Name: Game of Thrones Science: Sword Making and Valyrian Steel
Uploaded: 2015-04-17T13:31:20.000Z
Duration: 4 min
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out there have been gearing up for a new season,

we’ve been working hard with cosplaying chemistry

fanatic Ryan Consell to unlock the scientific secrets

When it comes to next-level swords, Valyrian steel

is the lightest, sharpest, hardest-knocking or

Dragonfire that make this steel so great.

But is it possible to legitimately forge such

a powerhouse metal with real-life materials?

Ryan: “In order to know about magic steel,

a mandatory amount of carbon – up to 2%.

Even a small change in the quantity of materials

can give us a lot of clues to its composition.

This super material is described as being incredibly

sharp, light, strong, super heat resistant, and

dark in color with distinct ripple patterns.

Ryan: “Strength and sharpness are going

For a blade to be extremely sharp, it also has to

be very hard, which carbon can definitely help with.

Problem is, the harder a material it is, the more likely

it is to shatter, which is no good for a Kingslayer.

For these reasons, I might recommend a spring steel:

This will have a nice balance of properties.

It will keep a sharp edge, bend without breaking,

So then what about Valyrian steel’s specialty

A spring steel sword isn’t going to cut

But check it out, lots of different industrial steels

need to be able to be heated and cooled while

For this reason, there is a class of steel that is

cooled off in the open air when forged, and

won’t lose its killer properties if heated up.

cocktail of elements, and you better believe

it would require magic in the medieval world

Ryan: “Well. This is a good guess, but Valyrian

steel’s color, patterns, and weight, make

Steel is consistently bright gray and Valyrian is suppose to be nearly black.

No matter the mix, the color of steel really doesn’t change.

On top of that, you really can’t change the weight

of steel, because most of it is iron, and iron

is really heavy, while Valyrian is super light.”

Also, the ripple patterns of Valyrian steel suggest that

This isn’t a sign of superb quality and strength.

It’s actually a way of compensating for poor materials

and trying to make a good steel out of two bad ones.

Does that mean that Valyrian steel isn’t steel at all?

Ryan: “Maybe…..The best possible match would be

a metal matrix composite, which is a modern

One of these could provide all of the extreme

characteristics needed for Valyrian steel.

It has all the strengths, weight and color and

if the metal matrix isn’t perfectly consistent,

These sorts of composites are extremely difficult

Needless to say, the Valyrians likely used magic.”

If you liked this video, make sure to check out

this other one that talks about a particular

poison used in the series called the Strangler.