Gentlemen, congratulations.
It's down to the two of you to decide who's
going to leave here with the title of "Forged in Fire"
champion and that check for $10,000.
Now, in this final round, we're sending you back
to your home forges for four days
to build an iconic weapon from history.
We want you to build this.
[suspenseful music]
Oh.
This is the elephant tusk sword.
NARRATOR: Dating as far back as the 6th century BC,
the mighty elephant was used during warfare,
often armed with the fierce elephant tusk sword.
This lethal weapon featured a socket that connected directly
to the elephant's tusk.
The double-edged blade was designed
to inflict massive destruction as an elephant
charged through barricades and ranks of enemy soldiers.
Throughout history, there's evidence
of thousands of elephant tusk swords being used in battle.
However, only four pairs of these intimidating weapons
still exist today.
I've never seen anything like it.
I'm trying to figure out how I'm even going to construct this.
A terrifying feeling is starting to set in again.
Good luck.
We'll see you in four days.
Hell, yeah.
My name is Matt [inaudible].
I'm 38 years old from Knoxville, Tennessee.
I'm a senior engineer and a part-time bladesmith.
I'm not normally a competitive guy.
But for this, I made an exception.
Because I'm here to win.
My adrenaline's already pumping through my veins.
And I'm ready for that challenge.
I've got my width that I'm looking for.
But my workpiece might be a little too thin.
I'm going to try and forge weld in a mild steel medial ridge.
So I'm going to get some mild steel
and try and forge weld that onto both sides.
All right.
Now, we're cooking.
This sword is meant for an elephant.
So the amount of force that's going to go into the blade
is going to be off the charts.
We want as even of a heat as we can get.
Check it with a magnet.
Make sure that we're at a critical temp,
and then pull it out, drop it in my quench oil.
Good so far.
[suspenseful music]
I don't see any cracks.
All the welds held up, nothing blew apart.
So far, so good.
Now, just to make it look pretty.
I'm going to start off by securing
the blade to the socket.
I'm worried about possibly overheating the blade.
So I'm going to have to take some extra care
to make sure the heat doesn't travel and ruin
the temper on the blade.
Let that cool off.
Doing a kind of test fit of the sword.
Perfect.
Everything goes together smooth as silk.
This blade is crazy.
I never would have imagined myself
making something like this.
So I'm kind of excited to see what kind of destruction
it does or maybe the sword blows apart.
I don't know.
Looks pretty sweet.
My name's Jayden [inaudible].
I'm 19 years old.
And I started bladesmithing at about age 15.
My entire life, I've gotten in trouble for two things--
playing with knives and playing with fire.
And so eventually, it clicked in my mind
that I could make knives with fire.
And it really just went from there.
Everything's looking good.
I think that it's all welded up well.
I'm going to start preparing to weld
the socket cap onto the blade.
If I do these welds incorrectly, I will end up with cracks.
I could end up with the whole blade,
basically, just breaking off.
[rock music]
The welds ended up great.
So I'm feeling good about where I am.
And today's mostly just going to be making this thing beautiful.
So I think I'm going to grind it like I would an ax.
I'm going to do big convex edges.
Because all of that extra meat in there will help support
the cutting edge itself.
That's exactly how I wanted it.
It's way cooler than I ever thought it would have been.
And I'm happy with it.
At this point, I could show up.
And on the first hit, it could snap in half
and I'd walk away happy.
I hope it doesn't, though.
I do want to win.
[laughs]
Bladesmiths, welcome to the kill test.
In battle, these swords were attached to elephants who just
rammed across its opponents.
Find out what kind of lethal damage your weapon will do.
We're going to go hog-wild on this ballistics dummy.
Jayden, you're up first.
You ready for this? - Hell, yeah.
Let's do this.
Ooh.
Oh.
Ah.
I wasn't expecting his head to come off.
All right.
Jayden, let's talk about your weapon here.
Every thrust was deadly.
It went all the way through.
What I do like is I can see the Damascus pattern on your blade
there.
Jayden, your elephant tusk sword, it will kill.
That's all I wanted.
All right. Matt, your turn.
So are you ready?
Hopefully, my sword is not "irrelephant" after this test.
[laughter]
We're going to have fun.
[suspenseful music]
MATT: Ooh.
All right, Matt, it penetrates very deep.
And on the way out, it cuts.
It's a weighted weapon right here
that when it thrust-- see the hole
right in the middle of the ballistics dummy--
it destroyed everything in there.
Your weapon right here, it will kill.
Thank you, Doug.
All right, gentlemen, the strength test--
we've mounted your elephant tusk swords on our battering ram
here.
And I will be attacking that armored soldier.
All right.
Jayden, you ready for this?
Yeah, let's do it.
DAVID BAKER: OK.
[clank]
Ooh.
[clank]
Ooh.
That's terrifying.
Jayden, I really have to commend you
on the artistry of this blade.
The low-layer pattern really pops.
The connections here are all really beautifully done.
And for this test, that tip still has an edge.
Everything is right and tight and true,
and nothing's changed.
Well done.
Thank you.
- Matt, you ready to roll? - Absolutely.
OK.
[suspenseful music]
[clank]
So, Matt, your blade held up fine.
The tip, it's a little bit duller
than when it started out with.
But I wouldn't run my finger down this edge, so nicely done.
It held up beautifully.
Thank you.
All right, bladesmiths, we know your weapons can kill.
And we know they are strong.
Now, it's time to find out how sharp your weapons are.
This is the sharpness test, the guillotine fruit slice.
We're going to take your elephant tusk sword,
release it, and try to cut through the fruit.
I want to see clean cuts all the way through.
Jayden, you're up first. You ready?
- Hell, yeah. - All right.
Let's do this.
JAYDEN: Nice.
All right, Jayden, your edge here cut
all the way through cleanly.
Bottom line, sir, your elephant tusk sword, it will cut.
All right, Matt, your turn, sir.
You ready?
I'm ready.
[rock music]
MATT: [exhales]
All right, Matt, let's talk about your weapon here.
The weight on this, it drives the cut all the way through.
Your edge is sharp.
More importantly, sir, it will cut.
Thank you, Doug.
Well, Jayden and Matt, you guys
both performed exceptionally well during your tests.
But as you know, only one of you guys
will be leaving here with the title of "Forged in Fire"
champion.
And today's "Forged in Fire" champion is Jayden.
Congratulations, you won, man.
Matt, unfortunately, that means you
did not come out on top today.
I'm going to have to ask you to please step out.
I'm proud of the sword that I turned in.
They were virtually the same performance.
Good job, man.
Yeah, you too.
And Jayden's weapon, he turned in a work of art.
And I think he deserves the title.
First thing I'm going to do when I get home, kiss my wife
and crack open a beer.
Well, Jayden, that means you are today's "Forged in Fire"
champion.
You're going to be leaving here with a check for $10,000, man.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
[applause]
I'm the newest "Forged in Fire" champion.
And I'm really stoked about it.
How old are you again?
19.
19 years old--
that is extremely impressive, man.
Thank you.
Whoo!
I'm so bad at emotion.
[laughs]
[music playing]