Four bladesmiths are floored when they must craft a signature blade from a massive piece of elevator cable. It's dirty work forging the oily cable into a blade as the smiths battle delaminations and inclusions. After surviving two tough rounds of testing, the final two competitors return home to recreate a sword wielded by some of history's fiercest soldiers: the Two-Handed Landsknecht Sword.

In Round Two of the first ever Forged in Fire Invitational Tournament, four armorers must forge a Damascus blade out of something familiar: plate armor. Two exhausting rounds of failed forge welds find the chink in two bladesmiths' armor, and send them packing. The remaining two armorers head back to their home forges to craft an exotic hybrid of pain and protection: the Hooded Katar. Which smith will earn the spot at the armorer's anvil, and the chance at the biggest Forged in Fire purse ever — $50,000?