Dwight, Billy Bob, congratulations.
You made it to the final round of this competition.
Now we're sending you back to your home forges for five days
to recreate an iconic weapon from history,
and that weapon is the rhomphaia.
Originating as early as 400 BC, the rhomphaia
was a fearsome weapon prominently used
by Thracian tribes of eastern Europe.
It featured a long single-edged blade that had great
cutting and slashing strength due to the blade's
slightly forward curve.
Usually forged with iron, warriors
had to use two hands to wield this heavy weapon using
an overhead sweeping or hacking motion
to attack from close distances.
First mentioned in historical text
by the ancient Roman historian Titus Livius.
It was recorded as one of the key weapons
in violent Thracian warfare.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
We'll see you in five days.
My name is Dwight Phillips, and I was the first person
from Tennessee that I know of that
passed the master-smith test.
What I love about bladesmithing, 200 years from now,
somebody else is going to be picking
it up and looking at it.
That really satisfies me.
It looks pretty good.
The thing I'm worried about is the handle.
I went with a full tang, which makes it a little bit heavier.
I may have to drill some holes in there
and take away some weight.
That made me a little nervous.
Next, we will clay it and get ready for heat treat.
This will help keep part of the metal soft,
and the other part will get hard.
I feel really nervous about quenching something this long,
but what the heck?
Let's go see what happens.
If this heat treat goes wrong, I could be in serious trouble.
The time it takes to work out another sword this long,
I'll be down and out.
I'm more nervous than a mouse that's
running from a cat on this.
With no cracks in the edge, and it wouldn't warp.
It looks perfect.
Let's check it out here.
It's dragging right there.
Kind of running out of time.
If I don't get this blade razor sharp,
Billy Bob could take home the money.
I have got to fix it.
That's better.
If I had a lot more time, I could really stone this edge
and get it even sharper than that.
But I think it's going to go through everything
they put up against it.
We just had to see.
My name is Bill Saule.
Everybody in the knife world calls me Billy Bob.
I've been a master-smith for eight years.
When I decided to make a knife, I'm just going to do it,
and there's not a lot of planing to it.
You just keep doing it until it's a knife.
The sword isn't fitting all the way through the forge,
so I just made one renovation.
I just knocked a hole in the firewall.
So I think I'm going to make a simple pattern
of twisted Damascus, and I can put it on the handle
and give it a little detail.
Oh.
Never pick a snowball up in a blacksmith shop
because it could be hot.
I'm way behind.
This is no bull [bleep].
The handle is harder than I expected.
Today, I'm going to try to fit and shape the handle.
Oh, yes, baby.
I'm doing it in two pieces.
It just adds to the craftsmanship.
Son of a bitch.
The handle is looking a lot better than I thought it would,
but we're never out of the woods until we send this bad boy off.
[bleep] damn it.
The [bleep] treads are crooked.
Being a perfectionist, I'm going to keep messing with it
till I get it right.
That may be the downfall of this whole thing.
Master bladesmiths, to see what kind of lethal damage
your rhomphaias, we'll take your rhomphaias
and deliver lethal slashes and thrusts
on this wild boar carcass.
Dwight, you're up first.
Are you ready?
I'm ready.
As you can see, I'm still recovering from an injury,
so to be my arm today, I'd like to welcome
my brother, RJ Marcaida.
[music playing]
Wow.
Well, Dwight, on the initial draw cut,
it is sharp to where it lacerated deep
into this wild boar carcass.
On the thrust, it penetrated easily into the carcass,
and on the final cut right here, your blade cut all
the way through the carcass.
Overall, your rhomphaia will kill.
Thank you.
DOUG: Good job.
All right, Billy Bob.
That's a hard act to follow, but let's do it.
[music playing]
All right, Billy Bob.
It's so light you can almost wield it with one hand.
The edge over here is so sharp it lacerates
easily without much force.
The profile you have over here for thrusting
allowed it for a very deep, quick in-out penetration.
Overall, your rhomphaia will kill.
Thank you.
Next up is the strength test.
Tim.
Gentlemen, to test the strength and durability
of your blades, I'm going to clamp them into this machine,
and it will deliver a strike on the sugar cane
of about 500 pounds of force.
Remember, this test is all about what the sugar cane
does to your blade and not what your blade
does to the sugar cane.
Dwight, I've already clamped yours in.
Are you ready to go?
I'm ready.
3, 2, 1.
Well, Dwight, your blade held up perfectly.
It's like it didn't hit anything.
It's still dead straight.
Very well done.
Thank you.
Billy Bob, you're up next. You ready?
I can't wait.
All right.
Let's do this.
3, 2, 1.
Ah, you killed me.
Well, Billy Bob, I love the overall weight.
It feels like it's a really good chopper, and, most importantly,
the edge is still as razor sharp as it
was when you brought it here.
Very well done.
Thank you, sir.
Next up is the sharpness test, and for that,
I give you to Dave.
All right, gentlemen, I'll be working
my way through this rope maze by cutting.
We've seen your blades kill.
Let's see if they've held their edge.
Dwight, you're up first. You ready?
I'm ready.
All right.
Let's do this.
[music playing]
All right, so, Dwight, your blade is just pristine.
I mean, there's not a mark or a hair hanging on it or anything.
Feel-wise, it's got a lot of forward weight.
Makes for a very strong chop, but I do have to stop it,
slow it down, and back it up.
I think it's a beautiful weapon.
Thank you.
All right, Billy Bob.
You ready to go?
Let's do it.
DAVE: OK.
[music playing]
Billy Bob, this is sharp.
It blew through rope like nothing.
I felt I could really control this weapon
just because it's so much lighter up through here.
Fabulous weapon.
Thank you.
Well done.
Dwight, Billy Bob, both done masterful work
as expected from master-smiths.
However, in this arena of competition,
there can only be one "Forged in Fire" champion,
and that champion is Billy Bob.
Congratulations.
You are the "Forged in Fire" champion.
Thank you.
Dwight, your blade was bad-ass, but this time,
it didn't make the cut.
Doug Marcaida will explain.
Dwight, first of all, this is exactly
what we expect for a final round,
two beautifully-matched blades.
But your blade is slightly heavy.
That offsets its balance compared
to Billy Bob's, and for that reason we're sending you home.
Dwight, I need to ask you to please surrender your blade.
Billy Bob winning is no disgrace.
I believe both blades are pretty equal.
I'd hate to have been a judge.
Being on "Forged in Fire" is one of the best
experiences I've ever had.
If it's something that you're passionate about,
you need to go for it.
Billy Bob, congratulations.
You are the new "Forged in Fire" champion
and will be receiving a check for $10,000.
Good job.
Thank you.
I'm honored to have been here to do it.
Please present your weapon to the judges.
The old man won "Forged in Fire."
The old man come here and kicked ass and took names.
It feels good, man.
I'm proud of both of us.
Dwight and I forged not only blades,
but we forged a friendship.
I'm going to go home and take a break.
I'm going to get me a damn pedicure.
You don't know what you're missing if you ain't had one.