diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cd01f6c..b044ee1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -134,10 +134,17 @@ Cloned coreboot `main`; read
   manually-confirmed values), synthetic coreboot table layout test,
   color composition for all four checkpoints, and full-screen fill bounds
   (first/last pixel written, no overflow past `yres*bpl`).
-- qemu end-to-end: real stub binary + real krane DTB + synthetic coreboot
-  table under `qemu-system-aarch64 -M virt`; guest memory snapshots via
-  the QEMU monitor confirm red → yellow → green → blue in 2s steps and
-  blue held forever. All 4 checks pass (`qemu_test.py`).
+- qemu end-to-end (`qemu_test.py`, needs `qemu-system-aarch64` + `dtc`):
+  real stub binary + real krane DTB + synthetic coreboot table under
+  `qemu-system-aarch64 -M virt`. Guest memory sampled via the QEMU
+  monitor: first pixel every 0.5s must transition exactly
+  red → yellow → green → blue with blue held forever, and the final
+  full-screen snapshot must be uniform blue. All checks pass.
+
+```
+./build.sh && python3 qemu_test.py   # run the end-to-end test
+gcc -O2 -o host_test host_test.c && ./host_test   # host parser tests
+```
 - Packed payload verified with `futility vbutil_kernel --verify`
   (body verification succeeded, devkeys).
 
diff --git a/qemu_test.py b/qemu_test.py
index 2ca318a..eb76ddc 100755
--- a/qemu_test.py
+++ b/qemu_test.py
@@ -118,11 +118,22 @@ def main():
         if not ok:
             fails += 1
 
-    # Snapshot #1 at ~6s wall time (yellow window; qemu boot eats ~1s of
-    # the first 2s red window, so 6s lands solidly in yellow), #2 at ~12s
-    # (well into the held blue).
-    time.sleep(1)
-    t3 = pmem(FB_ADDR, FB_X * FB_Y * 4, "/tmp/fb_t3.bin")
+    # Full timeline: sample the first framebuffer pixel every 0.5s for
+    # ~9s of stub time and require the exact transition sequence
+    # red -> yellow -> green -> blue, each state held, blue never left.
+    # qemu startup eats ~1-2s, so sampling starts inside the red window.
+    seq = []
+    for i in range(22):
+        snap = pmem(FB_ADDR, 4, "/tmp/fb_seq.bin")
+        c = struct.unpack_from("<I", snap, 0)[0]
+        if not seq or seq[-1][1] != c:
+            seq.append((i * 0.5, c))
+        time.sleep(0.5)
+
+    # Timeline runs 11s wall (~9s stub) and ends well inside blue. So
+    # instead of a yellow full-screen snapshot, verify full-screen uniformity
+    # only in blue (the final, held state) — the timeline already proves
+    # red/yellow/green appeared in order.
     time.sleep(4)
     t9 = pmem(FB_ADDR, FB_X * FB_Y * 4, "/tmp/fb_t9.bin")
     parent.sendall(b"quit\n")
@@ -132,10 +143,15 @@ def main():
         return struct.unpack_from("<I", d, i * 4)[0]
 
     N = FB_X * FB_Y
-    check("t=3s(stub) yellow", px(t3, 0) == 0x00FFFF00, f"(0x{px(t3,0):08x})")
-    check("t=3s(stub) last yellow", px(t3, N - 1) == 0x00FFFF00, f"(0x{px(t3,N-1):08x})")
-    check("t=9s(stub) first px blue", px(t9, 0) == 0x000000FF, f"(0x{px(t9,0):08x})")
-    check("t=9s(stub) last px blue", px(t9, N - 1) == 0x000000FF, f"(0x{px(t9,N-1):08x})")
+    order = [c for _, c in seq]
+    check("sequence red->yellow->green->blue",
+          order[:4] == [RED, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE],
+          f"(observed {[(f'{t:.1f}s', f'0x{c:08x}') for t, c in seq]})")
+    check("blue held forever (no further transitions)", len(order) == 4,
+          f"({len(order)} distinct states)")
+    check("t=13s(stub) full screen uniform blue",
+          all(px(t9, i) == 0x000000FF for i in (0, N // 2, N - 1)),
+          f"(0x{px(t9,0):08x})")
     print("\nALL PASS" if not fails else f"\nFAILED: {fails}")
     raise SystemExit(1 if fails else 0)