Four bladesmiths fight fire with fire when they must dismantle a forge and use that steel to construct a blade. The competition gets heated as the smiths struggle to salvage enough material to create a san mai billet, leading one competitor to crack under the pressure. After a punishing round of tests, the final two return to their home forges where they have just four days to recreate one of history's most elegant weapons of war: The Partizan.

Four bladesmiths are dispatched to the snowy winter tundra to forge a kukri with steel harvested from an old snowmobile. Provided with no power tools, the smiths might fight to forge their blades with just hand tools and the dreaded coal forge. After a physically and mentally exhausting outdoor round, one smith is eliminated before ever reaching the comfort of the indoor forge. At the forge, another contestant is eliminated after a particularly brutal round of testing. The two remaining smiths head home to forge a massive and intricate sacrificial sword from South Asia: the Ram Dao.