All language subtitles for Forged.in.Fire.S09E17.720p.WEB.h264-KOGi

[dramatic music]

- Here in The Forge,
we have seen hundreds of smiths

create some of the most feared
edge weapons in history.

♪ ♪

Now, in honor of History's
miniseries event, "Colosseum,"

we have decided
to transform our forge

into a Roman gladiator's arena.

♪ ♪

This is
"Gladiators of the Forge."

♪ ♪

With only two battles to go,

our current
Gladiator of the Forge

has won six in a row

and is looking to complete
this competition undefeate.

- I'm not ready to give up
this seat anytime soon.

- If Jesse has what it takes

to win both these battles
tonight,

he will match the most
amount of money ever earned

in "Forged in Fire" history...

$50,000.

But our judges
are taking back control

and bringing back competitors
from earlier battles.

The competition concludes now.

[epic choir hymn]

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- My name is Jesse Hu.
I'm 19 years old.

I go to the University
of Michigan.

And I'm the six-time
Gladiator of the Forge.

Having the title
Gladiator of the Forge

definitely feels kinda nice.

It's kind of fun
to picture myself as,

like, a battle-hardened
gladiator

that's been fighting for ages.

Which is kinda true,

but I'm not bloody,
and I don't have scars

from each battle.

All I have is just fatigue.

- He's almost like part
of the crew now.

- Oh, yeah, now.

♪ ♪

- My name is Eric Pearl.

So last time I was here,

Jesse was facing me as Vitul,

the Viking blacksmith.

Jesse did beat me last time.

I forgot to sharpen the insie

of that sica sword,
and shot myself in the foot.

It is a little bit more personal

coming back to find
the same guy here.

But his path ends now.

♪ ♪

- Bladesmiths,
welcome to The Forge.

Eric, it's good to see you.
- Good to see you.

- Now, Eric, we picked you
because of

your calm demeanor
and how well you worked

under the pressure of the clock
in competition.

And we thought you deserved
a second chance at the titl,

so here you are.

Well, Jesse, you've tallied up

a total of $40,000.

And if you win out,

you stand a chance
at taking home

$50,000.

But Eric, if you came out
on top,

that's your first Gladiator
of the Forge win,

and you'll get a $5,000 check,
and we'll ask if you want

to come join us
in the final battle

of this competition series.

Now, gentlemen, as per usual,
this will be

an eight straight hour
forge-welding competition,

where you'll build a blade
from start to finish.

At the end of that time,
you'll present your work

to our panel of expert judges,

and they will put your blades
through a series of tests

to decide which one of you
is coming out on top today.

Now, typically in this
competition you guys would

be choosing the weapon and
the forge-welding technique.

But today, we're turning
the tables a little bit,

and we are taking control back.

There are only four blades left
on the wall

of gladiator weapons,

each of which were featured on

History's miniseries event
"Colosseum."

You're gonna be building this:

- As long as they stay away
from that spiked mace,

I'm a happy man.

♪ ♪

- The acinaces.

- [exhales deeply]

- The acinaces traces its origin

back to the first millennium BC,

all across
the Mediterranean region.

This deadly double-edged dagger

was used by Roman gladiators
in pairs,

allowing them to deliver
quick slashes

and deadly strikes
upon opponents

inside the walls
of the Colosseum.

This weapon was so fierce,
it was even believed to have

been wielded by Mithras,
the Persian god of the sun.

- Now, gentlemen,
when you turn your blades in,

make sure they fall within
these following parameter:

Your blade length,
measured from tip

to where the cutting edge ends,

needs to be between
20 and 22 inches.

It needs to have a medial
ridge and be double-edge.

It also needs to feature
an anthropomorphic hilt,

which means it needs
to resemble a human bein.

Now, along with the weapon,
we have also chosen

the forge-welding technique
that we want you both

to use to build your blades.

Now, if you look at the pantry,
you'll see we have stacks

of 1095 and 15N20
high carbon steel bars.

We want you to take that steel

and turn it into
at least 100-layer

twisted Damascus billet

from which you will
make your blades.

- Oh, my God.

- By the end of the eight
hours, one of you

will be standing victorious,

earning the title
of Gladiator of the Forge

and getting a check for $5,000.

So work hard, stay sharp.

Your time starts now.

[tense music]

Twisted Damascus and 100 layers.

Guys, this could be
an interesting one.

- All right, good luck.
- You, too, brother. You too.

- One of those mild downsides
to Jesse's situation,

because he has done
so well in six challenges,

all we're expecting is more.

We don't expect him to skate by.

- Eric is great competition.

This is like anime protagonist
versus main antagonist.

I beat him once,
and he's back for blood.

- In timed competition,
100 layers is not typical.

- No.
- But you gotta stay

on your game.
- I always have the tendency

to pick too much material
at the beginning.

So I set four layers off
to the side.

That leaves me with 20 layers,

which means I have to cut
and restack five pieces

to get 100 layers.

- In ten minutes flat,

Jesse has gotten
a billet together,

stacked up, welded,
and in the fire.

- Jesse's being Jesse.

Fast, furious,
going all the way through.

Eric's being Eric.

Slow and smooth,
but he does get it done.

- I'm actually a little bit
happy to see Jesse

still in this competition,
because this becomes truly

a shot at redemption now.

Last time, when I was sharpening

that sica sword,

I said to myself,
"Don't forget to go back

and sharpen the inside
of that corner."

And I never did.

Welding!

This time, that mental mistake

is not gonna happen again.

I'm going to use 22 pieces,
draw it out,

split it into five pieces,
restack it and draw it again.

That'll put me at 110 layers.

We'll see what happens.

- As expected,
Eric is not running,

but he's moving along just fine.

I came here to prove that
I could do this.

I just need to keep it together.

[energetic music]

♪ ♪

- So now that my billet is
drawn out...

Come on.

I need to get this thing cut
into five pieces.

- Look at Jesse.
He's running from the bandsaw

to the chop saw.

This is a young man
who's not wasting

any of his time
out on this forge floor.

- Wow, perfect.

I now have to do 100 layers,

but still a lot of work to do.

♪ ♪

- Eric has drawn out
his first billet,

cut it up,
so they'll fit together nicely

for a second stack.
- Great.

- Great.
- So they're both set up.

- He got the job done.

- I restacked twice last tim.

It did eat up a great deal
of time.

So this time, getting it
all in one pass

is very crucial.

I'll take it.

At this point,
I'm feeling pretty good.

[energetic rock music]

- Both the smiths
are doing a great job

building this acinaces sword,

but they're both coming up
on that twist.

- Okay, let's see how well
this works.

- Jesse's not a big guy.

So I wonder how difficult
it's gonna be for him

to actually twist
this hot steel.

- Okay, let's see how well
this works.

- Big problem is either
under-twisting,

which we saw one competitor

twist it, like, one turn...

- You guys happy
with what Alex did?

- And it turned out almost
looking like straight lines.

And then you had the chance
of over-twisting

and shearing this billet.

- Mother[bleep]!

And it starts to pull
my billet apart.

I need to start
this billet over!

- Oh, wow.
Okay.

Apparently, my billet is
too big for me to twist.

[grunts]

Everything could go wrong
during the twist.

If I'm not able to twist
my billet,

I could actually get sent home
for missing a parameter.

I've won six Gladiator
of the Forges.

I would be devastated to hear

I'd missed parameters and lost.

- Step on a plate,
stand on those.

You're helping to anchor it,
and you get better leverage.

- Or just go to the press.

- Is that enough?

[bleep] it, good enough for me.

- Bladesmiths, you guys have
four and 1/2 hours left!

♪ ♪

- So, I get to the point

where I feel I've got good,
solid welds set

on my 110-layer billet.

It would hurt a little bit more

to lose twice
to the same person.

So I get this wild hankering
to go big or go home.

He's not gonna
get through me twice.

♪ ♪

- What is Eric doing?
I can't see.

If he's going for a Turkish
twist, that's impressive,

but scary at the same time.

- I'm gonna cut my billet
in half,

and I'm gonna twist
one half clockwise

and twist the other
half counterclockwise,

and then cut those two in half
to get four pieces,

and then stack 'em back
together.

- Eric is going further
than I would have

in a timed competition
like this.

- It's a big risk,
but if it comes through,

that's pretty awesome.
- Yeah, but it's a big risk.

- I'm scared that once
I start twisting,

I'm just gonna see layers
start pulling apart.

We're about halfway through
the challenge at this point,

and if this fails, there's
no way I'm going to come back

to win this challenge.

This just needs to work.

♪ ♪

Oh, yeah!

Everything on my steel
looks good,

so I now have to cut
and restack.

There's a chance that
doing all of this

could backfire on me,
and I run out of time

at the end of the round.

But there's also a chance
that doing all of this

could be what wins
this competition for me.

This thing's gonna be
a sword here soon.

- Good enough for me.

I already have my blade
mostly forged to shape,

and I get ready for the quench.

Everything can go wrong
during the quench.

If this quench fails,
it could send me home

and end my win streak.

- Here we go.
Jesse is now in the oil.

- That's great.
- It went perfectly.

The blade looks great.
There's no cracks,

I heard no pings.

Things have been going great
in this round so far,

but I need to keep working
on my blade.

[tense music]

- Oh, there you go.
- All right, we've got

two quenched blades.
- The colors on that blade

looked pretty good
when he put it in the oil.

- I got a good,
solid blade here.

Some days I even amaze myself.

I got a lot of metal
to remove from this blade,

'cause she's still pretty heavy.

I'm a little worried
about the time,

and it all just depends on
how quickly I can get

these vein bevels in here.

- Bladesmiths, you are
down to the final two hours

of this battle!

♪ ♪

- Now that my blade is quenched,

I could begin finalizing
these grinds.

I've heard that
the contact wheel

is the fastest way
to remove material.

This is great.

But I've never used it
in this competition so far.

Because I'm using
the contact wheel,

I'm gonna get
a hollow-ground blade.

That means it'll be a lot
lighter in the end

than it would be
with flat grinds.

And the example blade
is 100% hollow-ground.

- The neat thing about
hollow-ground is it lays

the pattern out really nicely.

- My sword has gotten
a lot lighter,

and I want to make sure
I leave that tang

a little on the heavy side
and bring that balance back

a little closer to the handle.

It's gonna be close on time.

I still gotta get this handle
on the blade.

So I'm using brass in my guard,

pommel, and pommel cap

to help
counterbalance the weight.

♪ ♪

- Those handle parts
look really well done.

- I'm concerned about
how thick it is, though.

- Right,
counterbalancing a heavy blade

with more weight
just makes it heavy.

- I've got a lot
of my handle work completed.

Now it's time to get this
handle glued up.

This little man.
[chuckles]

- Bladesmiths, you guys have

60 minutes remaining [laughing]

- So now I need to make
an anthropomorphic handle.

- The whole idea
of the anthropomorphic

is replicating human shape,
not making it exact.

- So I grab the mild steel.

It'll be a lot lighter
in the end, rather than brass.

Okay.

♪ ♪

After I get these shaped up
pretty well

and symmetrical as can be...

All right.
Which way did it go again?

I decided to also carve
a little bit of a face

into both sides of my pommel.

This face is not necessary
at all.

It's just for fun.

My blade looks menacing.
It looks terrifyingly sharp.

The grind lines are
pretty much perfect.

And then my handle
is just a person.

[chuckles]

[laughs]
It's kind of great.

- Bladesmiths, you have
15 minutes remaining!

♪ ♪

- Now the rest of the time
I have left

is devoted to sharpening
this blade.

I'll take anything else,
as long as this blade will cu.

- Better than last time.

- It's good to see that Eric,

in these last few minutes,
is still focused on that edge.

Because that is how
he lost to Jesse.

- He's doing a great job.

- I couldn't be happier

with the way this blade's
turning out.

- Five, four, three, two, one.

Bladesmiths, put down your
tools, this round is over!

- I really don't wanna lose
twice to the same guy.

I'd still like to be the one

to take him out
and end his winning streak,

and I think this blade
will do it.

[tense music]

- Bladesmiths, welcome
to our strength test.

Today, we have
the Roman throne chop.

And since you didn't
get a chance to pick

the technique or the weapon,

you get to choose
who goes first.

- What?

[laughter]

- I'll take it.

- All right, Eric,
you wanna go first?

Let's do it, bud.

♪ ♪

- Last time I was here,
Jesse ended up

going first in the testing.

And I just figured
it was only fair

I would go first this time,
so I stepped up.

My biggest concern
about that stone chair

is blunting my edge.

There's a real good chance

that I could end up
with a dull spot again.

I really don't want that to be
the reason I go home twice.

[grunting]

[intense rock music]

♪ ♪

[grunting]

♪ ♪

- [exhales]

[dramatic music]

- All right, Eric.
I gotta say, good job, man.

All right, first of all,

there's no deflection,
deformation.

It came out nice.
You did a good job.

But if we could etch this thing
for like another two hours,

this thing would be
amazing looking.

But the one complaint I have

is there is
a ton of weight on here.

Controlling that during chops,

it rolled over on me
a couple of times.

Other than that, good job.

- Thank you.

- All right, Jesse, you're up.
You ready to go?

- Heh, no.
[laughter]

- Well, we're gonna do it
anyway.

♪ ♪

- I can tell that the purpose
of this chair

is to destroy blades,

especially since I know J. is
gonna be swinging the blade.

- [laughs]

- This throne may be
the most difficult

strength tests
I've had to encounter.

It's been such a long road,

but this could be
the beginning of the end.

I may not be here
for the next battle.

♪ ♪

-[grunting]

♪ ♪

[grunting]

♪ ♪

-All right, Jesse, nice job.

It's nice and light.

It did a good job on the throne.

The edge is fine.

Everything is still tight
and true.

Good job.
- Thank you.

- Gladiators of the Forge,
this is it.

This is the sharpness test.

I'm gonna take your weapons

and try to cut
through these ropes.

Eric, you're up first.
You ready for this?

- Let's do it, Doug.
- Yeah, let's do it.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[tense music]

- Damn.
- Better.

- All right, Eric, let's
talk about your sword here.

You have a sharp edge,

but there is a weight
to your weapon

that makes it hard
to hold on to.

It did cut most of the ropes.

But overall, it will cut.

Jesse, your turn.
You ready?

- Sure.
- All right, let's do it.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- [exhales]

♪ ♪

[bleep]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- All right, Jesse, let's talk
about your weapon here.

First up,
your edge cut most of the rope

except for the last one,

but I cut at a different angle,
so I'll call that on me.

But it is sharp.
What I love about this

is the balance and weight
you have on your weapon.

Overall, it will cut.

- Now, guys, both of your blades

performed extremely well
during our test,

which makes for
a very difficult decision

for our judges.

'Cause now they have to decide
which one of you

is taking home that $5,000 check

and the title
of Gladiator of the Forge.

So while they discuss,
I'm gonna ask you both

please step off The Forge floor.

♪ ♪

All right, guys, it's the old

tortoise
and the hare story here.

But somebody's gonna
cross the finish line first.

J., what do you think
about these blades?

- I'm really torn, 'cause
they're both beautiful blades.

The issue that I have
with Eric's is,

even though it looks
closer to our example,

there's so much brass on that,

and it makes that handle
so heavy,

and it throws the balance off.

I felt it roll when I was
doing the strength test

a couple of times.

I didn't have that issue
with Jesse's.

- In my tests,
I feel they both cut,

so they're both sharp, except
when you pick up Jesse's blade,

it's just got a different feel
to it,

because it's much lighter

compared to Eric's
heavier sword.

- Okay, but we have to make
a decision.

David, you've made yours?
- I have, yeah.

- Doug?
- Yes, I have.

- J.?
- Oh, yeah.

All right, guys,
we'll call 'em in.

♪ ♪

Gentlemen, in eight hours,

you guys both built some
of the most beautiful blades

I've seen here
in a very long time.

But only one of you
can leave here today

as a Gladiator of the Forge,

getting that check for $5,000.

Jesse, if you win,
that's seven total wins

and $45,000 in your pocket.

Eric, if you came out on top,

that's your first Gladiator
of the Forge win,

in a redemption round,
and you'll get a $5,000 check,

and we'll ask if you want
to come join us

in the final battle
of this competition serie.

Our judges did make
a final decision.

Gentlemen, the Gladiator
of the Forge today is...

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

Jesse, congratulations,

you did it again, man.

Eric, it's been an honor
to watch you work.

But unfortunately, your blade
did not make the cut

by the smallest of margins.

And J. is gonna tell you why.

- Eric, you gave Jesse
a run for his money

the first time you were here.

And you made it even closer
this time.

It basically just came down
to weight.

There was so much weight
in that handle

that made it harder to control,

and that's the reason
we're sending you home.

- I get it.
I get it.

At least I made you guys work
for it this time.

[laughter]

- Well, Eric, you took
a lot of risk.

You gave us an unbelievably
beautiful blade.

But unfortunately,
at this point,

I'm gonna have to ask you
to please

step off The Forge.

- Thank you, guys.

- Great job, Eric.

[applause]
- Well done.

- You got a ways to go, man.

I really wanted to
take him down this time,

and I gave it my best shot,
and just came up

a couple of ounces short.
[chuckles]

Being the Viking
and Jesse's the gladiator,

it's an epic showdown.

But the gladiator won this time.

- Jesse, that is seven battles

and seven victories.

You just won another check
for $5,000.

Well done.
[applause]

You now have $45,000
in your pocket,

and you are seven titles in,

with a chance for one more,

if you have enough in you
to go back

in The Forge and battle again.

What do you say?
- Yeah.

- [laughing] Fantastic.

- I can see the finish line.
Why not keep going?

What just happened?
I'm somehow

the seven-time Gladiator
of the Forge.

- Awesome, man.
Well, congratulations again.

We can't wait to see you battle
it out in the final battle.

Well done, man.
- Thank you.

I keep on saying
that this battle is closer

than my previous battle.

I can't imagine a scenario

in which it'll be closer
for the next battle.

I never expected to
be fighting for

the last five grand to 50 grand,

but I'm going to keep my plae
on the throne.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Well, Jesse,
in the past seven battles,

you have been faced
with fierce competitors,

and you've knocked them all
out of this competition.

And if you win today,
you will match the most amount

of money ever earned in
"Forged in Fire" history...

$50,000.

But Jesse, we're not gonna
make it easy on you.

- [bleep].

- Because today, we have decided

to bring back yet another smith

who you've met in this forge.

But this time,
your competitor has

two Gladiator of the Forge
titles of his own.

- Oh.
- Jesse, in order to win today,

you're gonna have to beat
this guy:

♪ ♪

Kurt.

- My name is Kurt.
I'm a two-time

Gladiator of the Forge.

And in the competition
that I lost against Jesse,

I ran out of time

with my handle fit and finish.

- Well, Kurt,
this decision came down

to the handle, and your handle
was less refined

than your opponent.

- Now I get another chance
at beating Jesse,

and then he can feel
what it's like

to have a loss under his belt.

- Now, Kurt, welcome back
to The Forge, bud.

It is great to see you.

Now, last time you were here,
you started off

the Gladiator of the Forge
competition series

with two victories of your own.

You now have $10,000
in your pocket from those wins,

and you stand a chance
at totaling $15,000

if you take home the win today.

- This is my last competition,
so I knew that they weren't

gonna go easy on me
just because of that.

- This battle will
consist of eight hours

of forging competition,
where you will build one

of these three blades from
our wall of gladiator weapons.

- These weapons have been
sitting on the wall

for all seven competitions.

They're definitely
the three hardest weapons.

Today, you're gonna need
to build this.

♪ ♪

- There's a small pool
of weapons

that can be chosen from.

I hope it's not a dolabra

or the spiked mace.

♪ ♪

- The dolabra.

♪ ♪

- The dolabra was
a versatile weapon,

used by the Roman Empire army

in the first century and beyond.

Featuring a massive ax head
on one side

and a sharp pick on the other,

the versatile battle-ax
doubled as a tool

for soldiers
who would need to fell trees

and clear brush.

In the Colosseum,
the dolabra's ability

to deliver deadly chops and
lethal blows against an enemy

made it a favorite weapon
of the gladiators.

- Now guys, the head
of your battle-ax

will need to measure
between seven and eight inche.

And on the reverse side,
you need to have a sharpened,

recurved pick.

Your handle will need to feature

a leather wrap,
and the overall height

of this weapon needs to be
between 30 and 32 inches.

Now, bladesmiths,
as far as technique,

we're gonna
to leave that up to you.

In the pantry, we have
a massive assortment of steel.

You can do any method you want.

- That's surprising.
I'll gladly take it.

I can use this to do something

more complicated than Kurt does,

which gives me the opportunity
to earn more points

in front of the judges.

- Bladesmiths, this is it.
This is the last battle

in our Colosseum-themed
competition,

Gladiator of the Forge.

So good luck.
Your time starts now.

♪ ♪

This will be a doozy to end

the Gladiator of the Forge
competitions.

- It's amazing
watching these two smiths.

This is basically
a redemption for Kurt.

- And for Jesse, it's
"How do I stay on top?"

- If he wins this one,

he has eight victories
under his belt,

he has 50 grand in his pocket.

- And both competitors
have home field advantage.

They know where everything is.

This is their arena.

- Yeah, except the fact
that Jesse's got a cot

set up in the back, 'cause
he hadn't left in a week.

[laughter]

♪ ♪

- This is my last competition,
whether I win or lose,

so I'm going big.

- Jesse's got 1095,

15N20 bar stock,
as well as a canister.

- He's doing a canister.
- Dude, this is

gonna be awesome.
He's biting off a lot.

♪ ♪

- I decided to go with

fishhook canister Damascus
San Mai

with random pattern Damascus.

That's a lot of things.
[laughs]

- Fishhooks are great.
I love fishhook Damascus.

- My game plan
is to forge out this caniste,

cut the canister billet in half

for the outer jacket,
and then forge out

a 20-layer random pattern billet

and have that as a sandwich.

I'm hoping it looks impressive.

- I'm really expecting to see
something amazing

coming out of Jesse's forge.

- Go big or go home.

♪ ♪

- Jesse's still here,
so he's won all of his battles.

So I know that I need
to bring my A-game

to beat Jesse.

I'm gonna make 100 layer
Damascus San Mai.

I wanna do 20 layers
of the 1095 and the 15N2,

draw out the billet,

and then I'll cut it up
in to five pieces,

and I'll stack that again.

That'll give me 100 layers.

And then I'll draw that out

and I'll cut it up
into two pieces,

and put a 1095 core
in the middle.

And that'll be the edge
of the dolabra.

I really want this.

I want this more
than the first time,

'cause now it's redemption.

♪ ♪

- So right now, Jesse's got
two billets going.

He's got the fishhook canister
Damascus and layered stack.

- Having done Damascus
during the past seven rounds,

I'm confident enough
in my abilities

to make sure
these forge welds are good.

- Is that Jesse's can already?

- Yeah.
- Jesse's so fast.

- I'd hire him.

- And now he's setting
that laminate stack.

- I'm a little bit more tired
than usual,

especially after seven rounds.

But I'm definitely not gonna let

being tired throw me off.

Because if I lose this one,

my win record won't be perfect.

- Jesse looks like he's got
a good, solid piece of steel.

- After setting these welds,
it's time to draw them both out

for my San Mai blade.

♪ ♪

- I've spent over an hour
prepping and cleaning.

So I need to catch up
and get these forge welds set.

- Oh, man, you need
to get that billet hotter.

- Oh, [bleep].

- Oh, broken wide open.

- [groans]
My other three competitions,

I never had that problem.

And now that I'm trying
to take Jesse down,

out of nowhere, I'm having all
these things go wrong.

- Kurt is not being
patient with the heat.

- I'm already behind on time,

and I don't know how I'm gonna
fix that.

I'm pretty nervous.

♪ ♪

This is frustrating.

I can put some more flux on it

and try to get this weld
to stick.

But if that fails,
I'll have to start over

with a mono steel plate,
and I know that's not gona

be enough to beat Jesse.

So I'm just gonna
start over right now.

- Smart move.

- Good idea.
- Plenty of time.

- Welding.

This time, I go with 16 layers,

because that's four less chances

of a forge weld not taking.

If I cut it up four times,

I'll still have 64 layers total,

with that 1095 core
for the San Mai.

I definitely feel
like I can catch up,

as long as I don't make
any mistakes.

- Bladesmiths, we are two hours
into this battle!

You have six hours remaining!

- Once these billets are
drawn out to the length

that I want 'em, it's time to
set my San Mai.

I'm expecting to drift a hole
in this piece.

So I'm setting up my San Mai
so that there's already a gap.

It'll give me a lot less
probability of punching it

and cracking the seal.

- There are some drawbacks
to that process.

As you hammer that eye open,

where that comes together
with that centerpiece

it starts to tear.
- Okay.

- So if you're going
to set it up that way,

a MIG weld all the way around

where the contact's gonna be.

- After I get
this entire thing welded,

I'm prepared to begin
drawing out my blade.

- Jesse's got his final billet
stacked up, and Kurt still has

to get his final working billet.

- All the forge welds took.

So once I get the length
that I need,

I can cut it up
into four pieces, stack it,

and draw it out to
get the 64 layers.

Welding!

- Kurt needs to let that heat up

until it is screaming hot.
- Yeah.

- If these forge welds
don't take,

now I'm really behind.

- Look at the
difference in color

from the first forge welds.

That's great!

- Good.

Now that I'm confident that
the welds are good,

I can draw it out and then
forge weld the San Mai.

- I can see that Jesse's
still ahead of me,

but I think
I'm slowly catching up.

- Bladesmiths, we are officially

at the halfway mark!

You have four hours left!

♪ ♪

- Jesse's been doing great.
He's got that hole drifting.

And now he's got a lot
of material there.

- A pickaxe is not gonna have
the same mass as the ax head.

So I'm going to be offsetting
my eye, putting more material

to one side,
as compared to the other.

Okay.

After I get the ax head
shaped out,

it's time to go on to the pick.

- This is one
of the few ax heads you see

where the tail end is actually
further out than the head.

So it's gonna be very crucial
to see where Jesse pulls

this out, and if he pulls
it out properly.

- This is not
your traditional pickaxe.

It's a recurved pickaxe.

So I do that with my good old

trusty hand hammer
and the anvil horn.

- Jesse's blade
is looking badass,

while his competitor is still
messing around with that eye.

- This is a fairly thin weapon,

so there's not a whole lot
of room for error.

- You don't want that socket
to have thin walls.

Think of stretching metal.

Now you built in a weak spot.

- [bleep] hell!

- I'm just wondering if we've
got an issue here

with some torn seams
or something like that.

- I see that some of the wels
around the eye

are splitting,
about a quarter of an inc.

I drifted the eye walls
too thin,

and there's a crack
going right down it.

[sighs]

During testing, it could blow
apart completely.

But this is the point where
I probably wouldn't

be able to fix it.

So I'm hoping that it's okay.

♪ ♪

- Now with the blade
pretty much forged and shape,

it's time for the quench.

♪ ♪

- There we go, all right.

Jesse has his ax head quenched.

Still has to get that pick done.

♪ ♪

Boom, Jesse has
a fully quenched blade.

- It's great.
It's a little bit heavy,

so I can definitely spend a lot
of time on the grinder

and make sure it's as light
as it needs to be.

♪ ♪

- Guys, I gotta say,
I was a little concerned

about Kurt there for a while,

but he is making
some crazy progress.

- I just wanna do an edge quench

on the ax head because if there
is too much stress

on that cracked weld
around the eye,

it could blow
the entire weld apart.

I'm hoping that this
heat treat goes well.

♪ ♪

- All right, guys,
we got two bladesmiths

with two fully quenched weapons.

These guys are seriously
neck-and-neck.

- Yeah.

♪ ♪

- One of the parameters
is a leather wrap.

So it's time to give it
some flair.

I want it to look
like a bloody mess.

- What is Jesse doing?

- He's trying to make
it look like it's bloodied up.

- How long does
that stuff take to dry?

- Long enough that
I'm gonna have red hands.

[laughter]

- This thing looks so menacing,
even my hands look bloody.

Last thing I wanna do
is put an edge on this thing.

- The last time I lost
against Jesse,

it was because of the handle.

So I'm going a little extra
on this one.

- Kurt's been spending a lot of
time with that handle.

Last challenge,
make it beautiful.

- I finally have
everything put together,

and I am extremely happy now.

Hopefully my weapon's
good enough to beat Jesse.

- Five, four, three, two, one!

Bladesmiths,
put down your tools.

This round is over!

- Good job.
- [indistinct]

- After eight competitions
and 64 hours of forging,

I feel great.

It was me doing what I love
on the greatest stage.

♪ ♪

- Gladiators of the Forge,

your dolabras
look evenly matched.

But it's time to find out
what kind of lethal damage

they will do.

This is the KEAL test.

Kurt, you're up first.

You ready for this?
- I'm ready.

- All right, let's do this.

♪ ♪

- In the last challenge,

I lost with my handle
fit and finish.

But I'm confident in the handle,

and I can't wait to see
what carnage they draw.

[intense music]

♪ ♪

- Damn.
[laughs quietly]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- All right, Kurt, let's talk
about your dolabra here.

First up, it is razor-sharp.

That dummy's gonna have
a headache for a long tim.

Now, using this
on that ballistics dummy,

it is amazing.

Every thrust with your pick here

penetrated this,

because of the balance
you have here allows

for a nice thrust
and delivery on that.

But during the test,
you lost a section right here.

One of the layers
from your blade right here

didn't weld all the way through.

But looking at this,

your core is still solid.

So it's still gonna be a
functional and testable blade.

And overall, sir, your dolabra,

it will KEAL.

- Thank you, Doug.

- Jesse, you ready?

All right, let's do this.

♪ ♪

- I've never encountered
a ballistics dummy

during this competition.

I hope my blade suffers
no structural damage,

because it's my last battle,

and it's the last one
I have to prove myself in.

I worked so hard for this,

so this win is
for all the marbles.

[suspenseful music builds]

[intense music]

♪ ♪

- [laughs]

- All right, Jesse, let's talk
about your dolabra here.

First up, you have
a heavier blade here,

but it serves it very well when
you're doing damage like that.

The feel of the weapon
really allows it to go deep

into this ballistics dummy.

Overall, sir, your dolabra,

it will KEAL.

- Thank you.

♪ ♪

- All right, gentlemen.
You know what time it is.

It's time for
our strength test...

The Roman armor and shield chop.

And Kurt, you are up first.

- Oh, destroy it.

- [laughs] I can't wait to.

[intense music]

♪ ♪

- That was pretty cool.

♪ ♪

- So Kurt, this
is a good-looking weapon.

The leather wrap you did
and the texturing up

on the handle actually make it
quite comfortable to swing.

The issue I have
is this delamination.

[clinking]
It's come further open.

It didn't affect using it
at all, but I do worry that

that that's going to continue
to be a problem.

All right, Jesse, you're up.
You ready?

- Sure.
- [laughs]

- There's always that chance
that it breaks.

This is the last test
standing between me

and an eight-time Gladiator
of the Forge title.

I need to do well on this.

[intense music]

♪ ♪

[exhales]

- All right, Jesse.
Right off the bat,

great look, it's a good shape.

The pattern came out
really nice.

And where it really stands out
is right there on the socket,

which is kinda cool.

You still got an edge.

Everything's right and tight.
Everything's solid.

All in all,
it held up beautifully.

Great job.
- Thank you.

- You had fun, didn't you?

Well, Jesse, Kurt,
I couldn't have asked

for a better final matchup.

But at the end of the day,
only one of you can take hoe

that final title
and the last check for $5,000.

But Kurt, that would mean
three victories

and $15,000 in your pocket.

Jesse, that could mean $50,000
and eight victories

in a row for you.

You both have impressed us

with your work,
but our judges did make

a final decision
that they agreed upon.

The Gladiator of the Forge is...

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

Jesse, you are unstoppable.

Well, Kurt, you should
be proud of your work,

but unfortunately, your dolabra
did not make the cut,

and Doug's gonna tell you why.

- Kurt, once again,
you impressed us.

You gave us a beautiful weapon
that was lethal and effective.

But it had some craftsmanship
issues.

One of the layers
of the Damascus

broke off during our KEAL test,

and that's the reason
you're not winning today.

- I understand.

- Well, Kurt, you're not
leaving here empty-handed.

You are still a two-time
Gladiator of the Forge.

You have $10,000 in your pocket.

But unfortunately, your time
in this competition has ended.

I gonna have to ask you
to please

step off The Forge floor.

- Thank you, gentlemen.
- Thank you, Kurt.

- Jesse, congrats, man.

You deserve it.
- Thank you.

- So Jesse took another title,
and I don't disagree at all.

He once again turned in
an awesome weapon.

- Kurt, you did a good job, man.

- Thank you.
- Chin high.

This has been an absolute blast.

From the first time
I stepped out

on The Forge floor,

I knew it was going to be
physically exhausting,

but I loved every second of it.

And I ended up winning two
challenges, so I'm happy.

- Well, Jesse, I've got
one word to describe you,

and that is "impressive."

You just won your eighth
Gladiator of the Forge title,

and you have $50,000
to take home with you.

Congratulations.
- Thank you.

This experience was definitely
once-in-a-lifetime.

I just won 50 grand.

I'm planning on putting
so much of it

into bladesmithing.

I already made a spreadsheet

of all the tools I'm gonna buy.

I'll finally live the dream,

as opposed to just
dreaming the dream.

♪ ♪

[epic choir hymn]