Blank Points
Spoiler warning: This guide covers everything in Blank Points, including its ending. Finish reading the entry before you read on.
Terms and lore
The Dark Margin. The shore at the edge of the realm of darkness, where Aqua, after all her years of walking, met someone for the first time since she went under: a man in a black coat with the hood up, sitting and looking out at the cold light on the horizon.
The research inside the boy. What the man on the shore confessed to Aqua. His heart had once been clouded with vengeance, and he had done terrible things to a boy and his friends. While the boy slept his long sleep, he hid the results of his research inside him, hoping the boy might open the right door and save the people whose lives he had ruined.
Birth by sleep. The man's phrase for what so many are waiting for: "their new beginning, their birth by sleep. Even me, and even you."
Sora's name. The answer to Aqua's question. Before she said it, the name was spoken far from that shore, in scenes told like pictures of what had been: by Naminé, putting the last touches to a picture of a boy on a paopu tree in a white room of an old Twilight Town mansion; by Roxas and Xion on the clock tower, with Axel between them and ice cream in their hands; and by Ventus, opening his eyes in his chair in the Land of Departure, Terra at his side and a star falling overhead. Then Aqua, in tears, said it herself.
The letter. The letter Mickey sent in a bottle after the data world closed. Sora sat with it on the paopu tree until his mind was made up.
Kairi's lucky charm. Which she pressed into Sora's hand when he told her he had to go: "See you soon."
Characters and where they stand
Aqua. Still walking the realm of darkness, still bound by her promise to her friends. On the Dark Margin she learned that the boy who has kept saving the worlds is Sora, the little boy on the islands she once asked to keep Riku safe, and she wept.
The man on the shore. Hooded, gentle, and ashamed. It is his second time on the Dark Margin, and as before he does not remember who he is or where he came from. He remembers enough to regret what his vengeance did to a boy and his friends, and to hope that boy can set it right.
Sora. Made up his mind with the king's letter in his hand: "They really need me. I have to go. I am who I am. Because of them." He is setting out again, carrying Kairi's charm.
Riku. Already knew what the letter said, and came to see whether Sora's mind was made up.
Kairi. Said nothing against Sora going. She gave him her lucky charm and told him she would see him soon.
Naminé, Roxas, Xion and Axel. Seen as if in pictures of what once was, each said Sora's name as Aqua learned it: Naminé over her drawing, and the three friends on the clock tower at sunset.
Ventus and Terra. Asleep in his chair in the Land of Departure, Ventus opened his eyes with Terra beside him, "as if he had never been anywhere else," and together they said Sora's name.
Questions
How did the man on the shore come to the Dark Margin, for a second time?
Who are all the people waiting for their birth by sleep?
Can Sora open the right door and save them?
Will Aqua ever meet Sora?
Fun facts
A true ending. This entry comes from the secret ending of Birth by Sleep, which runs about thirteen minutes and was described as more of a "true ending" than a teaser for the next game.
Made in the game's own engine. Unlike the earlier secret endings, it was not pre-rendered. It uses the game's own graphics and full voice acting, and it was the first to end with the words "Reconnect. Kingdom Hearts."
A doorway to the dark. In Birth by Sleep Final Mix, the same scenes also serve as the introduction to a short playable episode following Aqua in the realm of darkness.