Matchlock is a historical fiction series set during the Thirty Years' War, beginning in 1622, when Matthew Lock lands in Europe to investigate the brutal murder of his parents.

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Here we cover the years 1618-1619, when the fortunes of rebels, Hungarians, Habsburgs and everyone else in between would rise and fall. In this episode, we also see a critical milestone come to pass – Ferdinand, the new King of Bohemia, is formally deposed by his subjects, in protest at the heinous extent of his efforts to control their freedoms in violation of the Letters of Majesty. Our episode opens with the revolver pointed at Ferdinand's head, but his saviour was not far away.

Ferdinand focuses on stabilising his position after the unsettling events of spring and summer 1619, when Vienna seemed close to succumbing and was at the mercy of the rebels. Aid from Spain was en route, but so was an attack from that troublesome quarter, Transylvania, as Bethlen Gabor set off to stick it to the Emperor Elect. The explosive elements of a full-blown war were added, and it required only the intervention of a sworn enemy of Ferdinand, powerful enough to tip the balance, for everything to escape Pandora’s Box forever…

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