You did not specify what โbinding topics to a group boxโ means and what an undefined state means. However, since checking / selecting Theme1 probably precludes the use of Theme2 , it looks like you are not using the correct user interface representation (since the user can select both).
Consider a ComboBox with the entries {"No Theme", "Theme 1", "Theme 2"} . Thus, no one gets confused and less form space is consumed.
Edit
If your edit really reflects what you want, set the โexternalโ check state whenever one of the checkbox's internal checks changes. This still does not make sense - what will you do when the user checks / deselects the external flag?
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