WILL: Gabe, Clarence congratulations.
You've made it to the final round of this competition.
Now we're sending you back to your home
forges where you will recreate an iconic weapon from history.
Make no mistake, gentlemen, this is a tough sword to make.
The last time this was issued as a final challenge,
one of our competitors did not meet the parameters.
That weapon is the Viking sword.
From the eighth to 11th century, the Vikings were the scourge
of the northern European coast.
One of their most effective tools for raiding and pillaging
was a Viking sword, a straight-edged iron sword with
a rounded tip and double edge.
The Viking sword was built to break
through an opponent's defenses using big, slashing blows.
Since the blade was heavy and usually swung with one hand,
a large pommel and hilt were used to balance
the weight of the blade.
Viking swords were often highly prized
by their owners and given names such as Battle Snake and Dog
of the Helmet.
One was featured in the 2007 epic film, "Beowulf."
This is your redemption.
This could be your last chance to show the world
what you're truly capable of.
Good luck, bladesmiths.
We'll see you in five days.
Best of luck to you.
Best of luck, man.
It's day one at my home forge.
I suppose it gives me advantages.
I've never made a Viking sword before.
But I'm feeling confident.
It's a coal forge.
I made it years ago.
This is going to be something.
By the end of the day, I'd like to have the sword at least
partially forged--
my point established, the bevels forged into place.
If I'm halfway down the sword blade,
and I can finish forging tomorrow, that would be ideal.
GABE: We're here at Dragonfly Forge.
Today we'll be making the billet out a few pieces
of forge welded cable, which we'll cut, twist, weld.
The cable has about 200 strands each,
so when the two are combined, it's going to be about 400
wires comprising the billet.
It'll make a very, very strong blade.
Hopefully, I can get those two put together.
That didn't quite go how we wanted.
As I was forging the two pieces of cable
together, the first heat, I couldn't
get the forge weld to stick.
I just can't get the sweet spot.
I need it to be hot enough.
It's not getting a full combustion.
And that's why it's, like, so much
gas that it can't all burn.
The next one, I got a little hotter, and she stuck.
The welds look great.
Today I just want to draw out this bar.
I rethought some of the things from yesterday,
and I think I was a little rushed.
Today I'm going to take my time, make sure I draw out that bar
and get that metal kind of slimmed down, thinner, longer.
And that way, it'll also be easier to heat.
It's hot.
I'm tired.
I'm not used to being tired from forging.
A little bit worried about running out of time.
So it's hard to work when you don't have the energy.
I'm really worn out.
I hope that I can get through this.
[bleep]
GABE: It's now the start of day three.
Really looking pretty darn good at this stage.
The quench is really the make or break point of the blade.
It's about ready for the moment of truth.
I cannot afford a failure.
The absolute worst thing that can happen during a quench
is to have a fatal crack.
There's no choice but to start over at that point.
Pretty damn straight.
Looks good.
We're over the largest hump of the whole project now.
CLARENCE: Day five.
The plan is to finish everything,
grind, put the guard and the handle
on, and quench the blade.
Working a sword like this by hand,
especially it being the first of these that I've done,
there's a lot of difficulty.
The quench went all right.
We got quite a bit of bend in here.
And I, of course, don't want to snap it.
This is really frightening.
Got a lot of it out.
Ready to finish.
Initially, I had a different type of pommel
set up that I wanted to do.
I'm not going to have time, so I have to improvise.
Well, we made it work, which is good.
GABE: It's now the final day, and I
have all the assembly to do.
Although there's still a lot to do today,
I'm confident I can pull it off.
The handle is a two-piece hardwood core over the tang.
And that's going to be wrapped in leather.
It's a very simple and utilitarian handle design.
OK, I think that did the trick.
We only have a few hours left, so I'm engraving the Roman
numerals XIII on here.
13 is a lucky number in my family.
It wouldn't hurt to have a little extra luck.
It's time to pack this thing up.
DAVID: Gentlemen, to test the sharpness of your blade,
I'll be cutting into our cargo net here.
Now, Gabe, you're up first.
You ready for this?
Definitely.
DAVID: All right.
Well, Gabe, that blade made pretty
short work of that rope net.
The weight overall has a nice feel.
Definitely did a good job.
Definitely a sharp weapon.
It felt good cutting.
Nicely done, Gabe.
Thank you.
All right, Clarence, your turn.
You ready? - I'm ready.
DAVID: OK.
All right, so, Clarence, a couple of things I really
like about this blade-- the weight is very nice,
and the balance is very well done.
This big lip in the handle, though, is really not
very comfortable on the hand.
But your blade did well, cut nicely.
Well done.
DOUG: Bladesmiths, the Viking sword,
wielded by the hands of the feared Viking warriors,
forged for one purpose--
kill the enemy.
To see how lethal your weapons are,
I will take your Viking sword and deliver killing
blows to this ballistics dummy.
Let's see what kind of damage your weapon can do.
Gabe, you're up first.
You ready?
I'm ready.
DOUG: Let's do this.
OK, Gabe, the handle is comfortable with the wrapping
that you did there.
It feels good.
As you can see, it lacerated the chest, the chest cavity here.
It even took out some bones of the ribs.
It is sharp on both edges and penetrated easily
on this ballistics dummy.
Most importantly, it will kill.
Good job.
Thank you.
Clarence, you're up next.
Are you ready?
I'm ready.
DOUG: OK, Clarence, it feels good to wield.
It's got great balance to it.
The one thing that it didn't do was cut cleanly
through the ballistics dummy.
It felt like it was bouncing off.
And I wonder if that's your edge geometry here
being thick and the sharpness of your blade.
But in the cuts that it did do, the weight did penetrate,
broke some bones.
It penetrated on a deep thrust coming out.
And that would be a very lethal wound.
And your weapon will kill.
DAVID: Now the Viking sword was commonly used
in conjunction with a shield.
So to test the strength of your sword,
I'm going to take four blows into these wooden shield
edges, two with either edge of your blade.
Gabe, you're up first.
You ready? - Yes, sir.
DAVID: All right.
All right, so Gabe, still in the same shape it was in.
That's good.
It's kept its straightness.
It feels like your edge held up really nicely.
It definitely cut into the shield good.
Good job.
Thank you.
All right, Clarence, you're up.
You ready? - I'm ready.
DAVID: OK.
Well, Clarence, your edge held up nicely.
That handle still-- ugh, in my hand,
it's still a bit of an issue.
But swinging it, the weight and the balance is really nice.
All in all, well done.
Thank you.
WILL: Gabe, Clarence, your road to redemption was a gauntlet.
The judges have deliberated, and they've made a final decision.
The "Forged in Fire" champion is--
Gabe.
Congratulations.
Clarence, please surrender your weapon.
CLARENCE: The first time I competed,
I wound up out in round one.
This time, I've made it through to the finale.
So I may not be a "Forged in Fire" champion,
but I have proven to myself that I can
go much further than I thought.
So there'll be definitely lots more to look forward to.
Gabe, congratulations.
You are the "Forged in Fire" champion
and will be receiving that check for 10 grand.
[applause]
If that's not redemption, I don't know what is, brother.
Feels so sweet after all that.
I love the dimensions of that blade.
It's a great cutter.
When I was going through that rope, it just went--
[imitates swishing] --right through.
You definitely know how to put an edge on something.
I feel like I've completely redeemed myself.
It feels incredible.
Like, I never thought that the title "Forged in Fire" champion
would mean as much as it does to me right now.
[music playing]