diff --git a/agent/BACKLOG.md b/agent/BACKLOG.md
index 488e2ff..45207cb 100644
--- a/agent/BACKLOG.md
+++ b/agent/BACKLOG.md
@@ -120,15 +120,6 @@ pass — accentAlt retuned to Latte mauve `#8839ef`, not the audit's pink
 of the btop-changed themes (rose-pine, everforest, summer-night, vantablack,
 catppuccin) — btop.theme isn't contrast-checked.
 
-### 53. Missing theme previews + neon-glass whole-swap (promoted 2026-07-09, V2)
-- Capture `executive-slate` + `neon-glass` `preview.png` headlessly via the
-  theme-shot recipe proven on boreal (480×270); optional hand `btop.theme`.
-- **First, for neon-glass:** its `waybar.css` uses `@text/@base/…` with no
-  `@define-color` block (and no `waybar.jsonc`), so applying it yields broken
-  bar colours. Decide: **finish** (self-contained colours + jsonc + preview)
-  or **quarantine** (remove `waybar.css` → falls back to the generated bar),
-  then capture the preview. V2 render.
-
 ### 54. Installer safety + polish — V2 scenarios pending
 Four guards shipped 2026-07-09 (V0/V1: bash -n, flake check, nomarchy-install
 builds): offline `compose-lock` failure now fail-closes instead of a network
@@ -206,7 +197,8 @@ neon-glass quarantine.
 ### Bugs / broken behavior (codebase exam 2026-07-09)
 
 _(Waybar doctor indicator, Control Center appearance no-ops, summer-day
-scroll → #51; neon-glass broken waybar → #53.)_
+scroll → #51; neon-glass broken waybar → **fixed** 2026-07-09 by quarantine
+(removed `waybar.css` → generated bar; render-confirmed).)_
 
 - **Battery charge-limit / powerprofile only match `BAT*` sysfs names**
   `power.nix` oneshot and menu/waybar globs use
@@ -240,8 +232,9 @@ nomarchy-menu usage string, secondary docs, always-on pieces → #47.)_
 
 ### Theme polish / completeness (codebase exam 2026-07-09)
 
-- **boreal preview recapture nicety** (executive-slate + neon-glass previews
-  → **#53**). `boreal` now has a `preview.png` (2026-07-09) but it's a headless
+- **theme preview recapture nicety** (all 24 themes now have `preview.png`
+  as of 2026-07-09 — executive-slate + neon-glass captured via theme-shot).
+  These headless captures are a clean bare desktop+bar, not the
   theme-shot capture — a clean bare desktop+bar, not the floating-terminal
   (fastfetch+btop) composition the other 21 use; a real-hardware recapture to
   match the grid would be nicer (VM is the documented fallback). Optional hand
diff --git a/agent/JOURNAL.md b/agent/JOURNAL.md
index f9805b1..f4633c6 100644
--- a/agent/JOURNAL.md
+++ b/agent/JOURNAL.md
@@ -17,6 +17,22 @@ Template:
 
 ---
 
+## 2026-07-09 — #53 theme previews + neon-glass quarantine
+- **Task:** NEXT #53 — capture the last two missing previews + resolve the
+  neon-glass broken whole-swap. Product call: **quarantine**.
+- **Did:** Confirmed the contract (working whole-swaps carry 12–23
+  `@define-color` blocks; `waybar.nix:448` reads the whole-swap css **raw**,
+  no palette prepend — so neon-glass's 0-`@define-color` css is genuinely
+  broken). `git rm themes/neon-glass/waybar.css` → falls back to the generated
+  bar from its (fine) JSON palette. Rendered executive-slate + neon-glass via
+  theme-shot; captured 480×270 `preview.png` for both — **all 24 themes now
+  have previews**.
+- **Verified:** **V2** — viewed both renders: executive-slate clean; neon-glass
+  bar now renders correctly (generated palette), no banner. V0 flake check green
+  with the css removed.
+- **Pending:** none. Optional: hand `btop.theme` for the 3 identity themes; a
+  hardware recapture to match the floating-terminal composition (nicety note).
+
 ## 2026-07-09 — #54 installer safety + polish (delegated, worktree)
 - **Task:** NEXT #54. Sonnet worktree agent (installer only).
 - **Did:** offline `compose-lock` failure fail-closes (reuses the
diff --git a/themes/executive-slate/preview.png b/themes/executive-slate/preview.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b2e9a83
Binary files /dev/null and b/themes/executive-slate/preview.png differ
diff --git a/themes/neon-glass/preview.png b/themes/neon-glass/preview.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e55c11d
Binary files /dev/null and b/themes/neon-glass/preview.png differ
diff --git a/themes/neon-glass/waybar.css b/themes/neon-glass/waybar.css
deleted file mode 100644
index e24378d..0000000
--- a/themes/neon-glass/waybar.css
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,108 +0,0 @@
-/* Neon Glass Waybar — Segmented floating pills with glassmorphism */
-
-* {
-  font-family: "Inter", "Symbols Nerd Font", sans-serif;
-  font-size: 13px;
-  font-weight: 500;
-  border: none;
-  border-radius: 0;
-  min-height: 0;
-}
-
-window#waybar {
-  /* The main bar background is transparent so the wallpaper shows through */
-  background: transparent;
-  color: @text;
-}
-
-/* 
- * The pill containers: left, center, right.
- * Glassmorphism: semi-transparent base + blur (blur requires hyprland layerrule if waybar doesn't natively blur, but alpha base helps).
- */
-.modules-left,
-.modules-center,
-.modules-right {
-  background: alpha(@base, 0.45);
-  border: 1px solid alpha(@accent, 0.2);
-  border-radius: 20px;
-  margin: 4px 6px;
-  padding: 2px 8px;
-  box-shadow: 0 4px 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);
-}
-
-/* Add a glowing top border effect on hover or generally to accent the glass */
-.modules-left {
-  border-top: 1px solid alpha(@accent, 0.6);
-}
-.modules-center {
-  border-top: 1px solid alpha(@text, 0.3);
-}
-.modules-right {
-  border-top: 1px solid alpha(@accentAlt, 0.6);
-}
-
-/* Remove default padding from individual modules so they fit snug in the pill */
-#workspaces button,
-#window,
-#clock,
-#tray,
-#pulseaudio,
-#battery,
-#custom-notification,
-#custom-vpn,
-#custom-powerprofile,
-#custom-updates,
-#custom-doctor {
-  padding: 0 8px;
-  margin: 0 2px;
-}
-
-/* Workspaces */
-#workspaces button {
-  color: @subtext;
-  border-radius: 12px;
-  transition: all 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.25, 1, 0.5, 1);
-}
-
-#workspaces button:hover {
-  background: alpha(@surface, 0.5);
-  color: @text;
-}
-
-#workspaces button.active {
-  color: @accent;
-  background: alpha(@accent, 0.15);
-  box-shadow: 0 0 8px alpha(@accent, 0.4);
-}
-
-#workspaces button.urgent {
-  color: @bad;
-  background: alpha(@bad, 0.15);
-}
-
-/* Indicators */
-#battery.charging { color: @good; }
-#battery.warning:not(.charging) { color: @warn; }
-#battery.critical:not(.charging) {
-  color: @bad;
-  animation: blink 1s steps(2, start) infinite;
-}
-
-#pulseaudio.muted { color: @muted; }
-
-#custom-updates { color: @accentAlt; }
-#custom-doctor { color: @bad; }
-#custom-vpn { color: @accent; }
-
-@keyframes blink {
-  to { color: @text; }
-}
-
-tooltip {
-  background: alpha(@base, 0.85);
-  border: 1px solid alpha(@accent, 0.4);
-  border-radius: 12px;
-}
-tooltip label {
-  color: @text;
-}