Svennesohn Gwaltney

Svennesohn Gwaltney is an inhabitant of Earth (UPΘ at the time of the Anthroperium) during the rule of Anthrarchos III two centuries after the "transcension" of Anthrarchos Hypervincijovus Epiphanes.
The Watcher traveling with Joshua on the Dominion fleet towards Sol System from Urantia appears to Gwaltney several times, each time with news of the fleet's coming towards Earth.
At the Watcher's second appearance to Gwaltney, he reveals the location of a Soviet-era bunker deep in Siberia. There, he finds an antique recording of Yuri Gagarin's first flight into space and orbit around Earth, uttering the once-famous phrase "I see no god up here." This shakes Gwaltney's faith in the Anthroperian religion to the core.
Later, he is led to the last remaining copy of Breath on Earth, that miraculously survived the cultural purge of the Anthroperium. It contradicts the history told by the regime at almost every turn. The true history of Sol System is known to humanity largely through the record of Breath from here on out.
Sven, desperate to know the truth, prays - not to Anthrarchos III, but to the Architect espoused by Breath - and has a radical spiritual experience that leads him to become an adherent. He realizes that Joshua - though he has only the words of the Watcher to guide him - is proof of Architecture's truth.
He is an essential dystopian hero, except that he does not hate the regime. Rather, he loves it and his revelation of the truth at first enslaves rather than frees him. So greatly does he desire for the things that Anthroperian religion promises (triumph of reason, the creation of life, divine communion, the God-man, et. al....) to be true. Yet, through Joshua, he finds total satisfaction in these things and a renewed, true faith.
He becomes the leader of an underground resistance movement on UPΘ by printing and distributing copies of Breath. At the same time, the Dominion fleet enters Sol System and makes it's first contact with the Rimmers. 
== Behind the Scenes ==
Svennesohn Gwaltney's primary story arc is inspired by the story of Joseph Smith, Jr. and the appearances of the angel Moroni that lead him to uncover and translate the Book of Mormon from golden plates recovered in upper New York at the Hill Cumorah.
Category:Characters
Category:Second Trilogy