diff --git a/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/ui_theme_proof.gd b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/ui_theme_proof.gd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..01a54fbe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/ui_theme_proof.gd
@@ -0,0 +1,213 @@
+extends Control
+## Proof scene for p2-73 — the UI theme token pipeline.
+##
+## Two things are proven in one screenshot:
+##   1. GLOBAL APPLY. The left column is bare, NON-overriding Control widgets
+##      (Button in all interaction states, Panel, PanelContainer, Label,
+##      ItemList). None of them set a `theme` or any `add_theme_*_override`, so
+##      whatever copper styling they show comes purely from the project-level
+##      `gui/theme/custom` = ui_theme.tres. If the global apply failed they would
+##      render as flat grey Godot defaults.
+##   2. SEMANTIC ACCESSOR. The right column is a swatch grid built from
+##      `ThemeAssets.color(<token>)` calls — accent / semantic / text / border /
+##      background tokens resolved by name out of the generated token table.
+##
+## Self-contained + headless-safe: launched directly via scripts/ui-proof-capture.sh
+## (weston). Owns its own capture + quit and prints `SCREENSHOT_PATH:`.
+## Screenshot path is project-local user:// (NOT /tmp — Flatpak sandbox).
+
+const OUTPUT_DIR: String = "user://screenshots"
+const SCREENSHOT_NAME: String = "p2-73-ui-theme"
+const THEME_ID: String = "age-of-dwarves"
+
+## Token names exercised through ThemeAssets.color(). These are REAL token
+## paths from design-tokens.json (dotted), proving dotted-name resolution.
+const SWATCH_TOKENS: Array[String] = [
+	"accent.gold",
+	"accent.goldResource",
+	"accent.science",
+	"accent.sage",
+	"text.title",
+	"text.primary",
+	"text.secondary",
+	"semantic.positive",
+	"semantic.negative",
+	"semantic.warning",
+	"semantic.diplomacy",
+	"border.panel",
+	"border.focus",
+	"background.panel",
+	"background.raised",
+]
+
+var _captured: bool = false
+
+
+func _ready() -> void:
+	get_viewport().size = Vector2i(1280, 720)
+	if DisplayServer.get_name() != "headless":
+		DisplayServer.window_set_size(Vector2i(1280, 720))
+
+	# color() lazy-loads ui_theme.tres; set_theme primes the palette side too so
+	# the proof exercises the same path a booted game would.
+	ThemeAssets.set_theme(THEME_ID)
+
+	_build_ui()
+
+	# Two process frames so the theme-driven StyleBoxes paint before capture.
+	await get_tree().process_frame
+	await get_tree().process_frame
+	await get_tree().create_timer(0.4).timeout
+	_capture(SCREENSHOT_NAME)
+	await get_tree().create_timer(0.3).timeout
+	get_tree().quit()
+
+
+func _build_ui() -> void:
+	# Stable dark backdrop — uses the deepest background token so even the
+	# backdrop is token-driven, but read raw so a theme failure can't hide it.
+	var bg: ColorRect = ColorRect.new()
+	bg.set_anchors_preset(Control.PRESET_FULL_RECT)
+	bg.color = Color(0.05, 0.05, 0.07, 1.0)
+	add_child(bg)
+
+	var root: HBoxContainer = HBoxContainer.new()
+	root.set_anchors_preset(Control.PRESET_FULL_RECT)
+	root.add_theme_constant_override("separation", 32)
+	root.offset_left = 40
+	root.offset_top = 28
+	root.offset_right = -40
+	root.offset_bottom = -28
+	add_child(root)
+
+	root.add_child(_build_widgets_column())
+	root.add_child(_build_swatch_column())
+
+
+## Left column: bare default widgets with NO local theme / overrides. Proves the
+## project-level gui/theme/custom reaches default Controls.
+func _build_widgets_column() -> Control:
+	var col: VBoxContainer = VBoxContainer.new()
+	col.custom_minimum_size = Vector2(520, 0)
+	col.add_theme_constant_override("separation", 14)
+
+	# Heading uses a token color so the section title itself is themed copper.
+	var heading: Label = Label.new()
+	heading.text = "Global theme (no overrides) — gui/theme/custom"
+	heading.add_theme_font_size_override("font_size", 20)
+	heading.add_theme_color_override("font_color", ThemeAssets.color("text.title"))
+	col.add_child(heading)
+
+	# Default Label — inherits Label/colors/font_color + font size from theme.
+	var label: Label = Label.new()
+	label.text = "Default Label — themed off-white body text from ui_theme.tres"
+	col.add_child(label)
+
+	# Real default Buttons — normal + pressed (toggled on) + disabled. Each picks
+	# up its StyleBox + font color from the global theme with zero overrides.
+	col.add_child(_default_button("Default Button — Normal", false, false))
+	var pressed_btn: Button = _default_button("Default Button — Pressed", false, true)
+	pressed_btn.toggle_mode = true
+	pressed_btn.button_pressed = true
+	col.add_child(pressed_btn)
+	col.add_child(_default_button("Default Button — Disabled", true, false))
+
+	# Default Panel.
+	var panel: Panel = Panel.new()
+	panel.custom_minimum_size = Vector2(0, 56)
+	var panel_label: Label = Label.new()
+	panel_label.text = "Default Panel — copper border + dark fill"
+	panel_label.position = Vector2(12, 16)
+	panel.add_child(panel_label)
+	col.add_child(panel)
+
+	# Default ItemList with a selected row.
+	var list: ItemList = ItemList.new()
+	list.custom_minimum_size = Vector2(0, 110)
+	list.add_item("Ironveil clan")
+	list.add_item("Stoneguard clan")
+	list.add_item("Emberfall clan (selected)")
+	list.add_item("Deephollow clan")
+	list.select(2)
+	col.add_child(list)
+
+	return col
+
+
+func _default_button(text: String, disabled: bool, _pressed: bool) -> Button:
+	var btn: Button = Button.new()
+	btn.text = text
+	btn.disabled = disabled
+	btn.custom_minimum_size = Vector2(0, 38)
+	return btn
+
+
+## Right column: swatch grid built entirely from ThemeAssets.color(token).
+func _build_swatch_column() -> Control:
+	var col: VBoxContainer = VBoxContainer.new()
+	col.custom_minimum_size = Vector2(560, 0)
+	col.add_theme_constant_override("separation", 10)
+
+	var heading: Label = Label.new()
+	heading.text = "ThemeAssets.color(token) — semantic accessor"
+	heading.add_theme_font_size_override("font_size", 20)
+	heading.add_theme_color_override("font_color", ThemeAssets.color("text.title"))
+	col.add_child(heading)
+
+	var grid: GridContainer = GridContainer.new()
+	grid.columns = 1
+	grid.add_theme_constant_override("v_separation", 6)
+	for token_name: String in SWATCH_TOKENS:
+		grid.add_child(_swatch_row(token_name))
+	col.add_child(grid)
+
+	return col
+
+
+func _swatch_row(token_name: String) -> Control:
+	var row: HBoxContainer = HBoxContainer.new()
+	row.add_theme_constant_override("separation", 12)
+
+	var resolved: Color = ThemeAssets.color(token_name)
+
+	var chip: ColorRect = ColorRect.new()
+	chip.custom_minimum_size = Vector2(40, 24)
+	chip.color = resolved
+	row.add_child(chip)
+
+	var name_label: Label = Label.new()
+	name_label.text = token_name
+	name_label.custom_minimum_size = Vector2(190, 0)
+	row.add_child(name_label)
+
+	var hex_label: Label = Label.new()
+	hex_label.text = "#%02x%02x%02x" % [
+		int(round(resolved.r * 255.0)),
+		int(round(resolved.g * 255.0)),
+		int(round(resolved.b * 255.0)),
+	]
+	hex_label.add_theme_color_override("font_color", resolved)
+	row.add_child(hex_label)
+
+	return row
+
+
+func _capture(name: String) -> void:
+	if _captured:
+		return
+	_captured = true
+
+	DirAccess.make_dir_recursive_absolute(ProjectSettings.globalize_path(OUTPUT_DIR))
+
+	var image: Image = get_viewport().get_texture().get_image()
+	if image == null:
+		push_error("ui_theme_proof: viewport image unavailable")
+		return
+
+	var abs_path: String = ProjectSettings.globalize_path("%s/%s.png" % [OUTPUT_DIR, name])
+	var err: Error = image.save_png(abs_path)
+	if err == OK:
+		print("SCREENSHOT_PATH:%s" % abs_path)
+		print("Screenshot: %dx%d saved to %s" % [image.get_width(), image.get_height(), abs_path])
+	else:
+		push_error("ui_theme_proof: save failed: %s" % error_string(err))
diff --git a/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/ui_theme_proof.gd.uid b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/ui_theme_proof.gd.uid
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0e0dcab8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/ui_theme_proof.gd.uid
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+uid://b48nbf7dy3aup
diff --git a/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/ui_theme_proof.tscn b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/ui_theme_proof.tscn
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ee3c486c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/ui_theme_proof.tscn
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+[gd_scene load_steps=2 format=3 uid="uid://b2u7th3mpr00f"]
+
+[ext_resource type="Script" path="res://engine/scenes/tests/ui_theme_proof.gd" id="1_script"]
+
+[node name="UiThemeProof" type="Control"]
+layout_mode = 3
+anchors_preset = 15
+anchor_right = 1.0
+anchor_bottom = 1.0
+script = ExtResource("1_script")