[metal clanking and sizzling]
J. NEILSON This test is going to test
the overall strength of your blade edge and construction
of your knife.
Matt, you're up first.
You ready?
Yeah, gotta be.
[grunting]
[blade slicing]
[rock music playing]
[grunting and slicing]
AARON: Damn.
Holy moly.
RAE: Nice.
J. NEILSON Matt, this is a nice piece.
Very comfortable handle, started out straight, still straight.
There's no edge damage at all.
Got one little cosmetic defect, but it
didn't affect the blade at all.
Very nicely done.
Thank you.
Dave, how you feeling?
Ready? - Yes.
J. NEILSON Good.
So am I.
[blade slicing]
[grunting]
[rock music playing]
[grunting and slicing]
RAE: Nice.
Nicely done. - Thank you.
J. NEILSON Dave, this is a nice piece.
DAVE: Thank you.
J. NEILSON But the handle is very, very thin here,
and it's very forward heavy as well.
Those combined, you saw the blade
was going around and around.
But everything stayed together.
Good job.
Thank you.
OK, Rae.
You ready?
Let's do this.
[blade slicing]
[grunting]
[rock music playing]
[grunting and slicing]
[exhaling strongly]
RAE: It worked.
[chuckling]
All right, Rae.
Your blade survived, but you've got a couple of issues.
First of all, your handle--
biting the heck out of my fingers.
You had a warp in your blade before,
but now you've also got a twist towards the front end.
And you've also lost the edge.
So it survived, but definitely has issues.
Ready, Chris?
I am.
Let's go.
CHRIS: I'm nervous.
I'm confident.
I'm hopeful.
But ice is a really hard target, and J.
swings a knife really hard.
[grunting]
[slicing]
[rock music playing]
[grunting and slicing]
[ice shattering]
[laughter]
AARON: Good job.
Oh my--
J. NEILSON Woo, I got ice down my shirt.
[laughter]
Chris, nice job.
Thank you.
J. NEILSON Couple issues.
Long handle, and it's very, very thin here
and a little too thick here.
You did lose a little bit of edge here.
But the biggest thing is, your blade now goes this way.
Did a nice job on the ice, though, and he did survive.
Good job.
Thank you.
How you feeling, Aaron?
Nervous, but I feel OK.
Good.
I'm not nervous at all, so let's just do it.
OK.
[laughter]
AARON: I'm freaking out.
I'm thinking, don't break, don't break.
Don't chip.
Don't warp.
Because I really need this thing to hold together.
Everything's on the line right now.
Here we go.
[slicing]
[grunting]
[rock music playing]
[grunting and slicing]
[breathing heavily]
[exhales strongly]
Nice job, Aaron.
Thanks.
J. NEILSON Handle's short--
not too short, but right on that border.
Finger starts climbing up into this section here,
and it's a little bit sharp.
OK.
J. NEILSON But it stayed true.
You've still got an edge.
Good job. - Thank you.
Thank you.
[judges discussing inaudibly]
The judges are huddled up together.
They're doing evil whispers to each other
and then saying different people's names.
I really hope they don't choose my blade for me to go home.
CHRIS: This is the same problem I had last time
I was on "Forged in Fire."
I did a lot of damage, and I took damage.
I don't feel like I've learned my lesson.
WIL WILLIS: Bladesmiths, the judges
have made a final decision about who's moving forward
and who's leaving this competition.
Now, these tests are designed to be
intentionally brutal to set your blades apart from one another.
I remind you, there is no walk of shame in this forge.
Hold your head up high when you walk out of here.
This is a brutal competition.
Nobody comes in here, comes out unscathed.
Matt, David, Aaron, Chris, you'll be moving on.
You can go ahead and enter the forge.
Rae, your blade didn't make the cut.
It took the most damage during this test.
And for that reason, we have to ask
you to please leave the forge.
RAE: I don't think the judges made the wrong decision.
My blade didn't hold up, so my blade was the one to go.
But I made it farther than I did last time, which in itself
is its own form of redemption.
"Forged in Fire" has been an amazing experience,
and I'm just glad that I had the opportunity to be a part of it.