The Origin of Milky Well
The third sanctuary location, Milky Well, is hidden behind the bizarre Saturn Valley, itself a remote village north of Threed. This is indeed an odd area of the country, as it contains not only Saturn Valley and a sanctuary, but also an underground factory. Yet the focus here is the origin of the sanctuary.
Now, so far this sanctuary differs from the others in that it is the only sanctuary so far which has not had the Mani-Mani statue nearby over the known course of the game. Since the Mani-Mani is an important catalyst for evil for characters who already had some power beforehand, it seems unlikely that its presence would not be mentioned had it been here. Belch does mention it in passing once you defeat him ("But, Master Giygas has managed to get the Mani Mani statue into Fourside."), but it is never explicitly mentioned or seen as being in the area. Thus, we can safely assume that the Mani-Mani did not directly influence the Milky Well sanctuary or either of its two nearby bosses, Master Belch or the Trillionage Sprout.
So, if the power of the Mani-Mani cannot be held responsible for the sanctification of Milky Well, some other power must have been at work. Incidentally, we know that there must be some power in the area regardless of the sanctuary, as whatever it is allows Belch to control an army of zombies in Threed.
It would seem that Belch is not the most intelligent of bosses. All comments about how intelligent a large pile of vomit could actually be aside, it does not really seem that he has the mental capacity to have set up the power in the area on his own. He is merely a leech, taking advantage of the existing power to give him his control. Likewise, plants are generally not considered creatures; although they may have been rendered conscious by Giygas' evil influence, it still does not seem that it would be easy or worthwhile to imbue them with a great intelligence. Thus, the Trillionage Sprout also does not seem a likely candidate for the source of the sanctuary's power. In fact, it seems that Trillionage sprout is even lower on Giygas' scale than Master Belch: Belch is at least being "productive" by terrorizing Threed, while the Trillionage Sprout is simply a guard to prevent access to the Sanctuary's power.
On the other hand, the nearby Mr. Saturns come across as a very intelligent species. (After all, later in the game, they are able to help Dr. Andonuts construct a device that can warp time.) In addition to their intelligence it would also seem that they have at least some telekinetic abilities to overcome their lack of arms hindering their day-to-day activities. Finally, at the end of the game they are able to receive the prayer from Paula and themselves pray for the safety of the Chosen Four, which indicates at least a rudimentary belief in the supernatural.
So, if we go along this train of thought, it would seem that the Mr. Saturns may have needed some sort of sacred place of their own. Before Giygas ever started influencing events, the Mr. Saturns had already discovered Milky Well and through generations of a combination of technology, psychokinesis, and faith, they managed to forge quite a powerful region.
Upon discovery of this area, Giygas was obviously pleased. It would provide a source of power that would allow some of his weaker minions to become quite strong. According to one Mr. Saturn, "Once upon a time, we were many, many. Everyday, slowly are less, less." One can only imagine what must have happened: essentially a gradual massacre at the hands of Giygas' minions over control of the sanctuary's power. The Saturns seem to be peaceful beings and were relatively safe in their valley, so they likely didn't have much in the way of defense and as such were easily overtaken. Most of them were killed, although a small portion was taken into slavery, and for some unknown reason a few of them were left alone. From the game we can tell that it was Belch responsible for the Mr. Saturns; the Saturns are free once he is defeated, even though the Milky Well sanctuary hasn't been reclaimed yet. Freeing the Mr. Saturns and returning their defiled sanctuary to them left the Saturns with a great debt of gratitude to the Four, a debt which they would later repay with the help of Dr. Andonuts.
The third sanctuary location, Milky Well, is hidden behind the bizarre Saturn Valley, itself a remote village north of Threed. This is indeed an odd area of the country, as it contains not only Saturn Valley and a sanctuary, but also an underground factory. Yet the focus here is the origin of the sanctuary.
Now, so far this sanctuary differs from the others in that it is the only sanctuary so far which has not had the Mani-Mani statue nearby over the known course of the game. Since the Mani-Mani is an important catalyst for evil for characters who already had some power beforehand, it seems unlikely that its presence would not be mentioned had it been here. Belch does mention it in passing once you defeat him ("But, Master Giygas has managed to get the Mani Mani statue into Fourside."), but it is never explicitly mentioned or seen as being in the area. Thus, we can safely assume that the Mani-Mani did not directly influence the Milky Well sanctuary or either of its two nearby bosses, Master Belch or the Trillionage Sprout.
So, if the power of the Mani-Mani cannot be held responsible for the sanctification of Milky Well, some other power must have been at work. Incidentally, we know that there must be some power in the area regardless of the sanctuary, as whatever it is allows Belch to control an army of zombies in Threed.
It would seem that Belch is not the most intelligent of bosses. All comments about how intelligent a large pile of vomit could actually be aside, it does not really seem that he has the mental capacity to have set up the power in the area on his own. He is merely a leech, taking advantage of the existing power to give him his control. Likewise, plants are generally not considered creatures; although they may have been rendered conscious by Giygas' evil influence, it still does not seem that it would be easy or worthwhile to imbue them with a great intelligence. Thus, the Trillionage Sprout also does not seem a likely candidate for the source of the sanctuary's power. In fact, it seems that Trillionage sprout is even lower on Giygas' scale than Master Belch: Belch is at least being "productive" by terrorizing Threed, while the Trillionage Sprout is simply a guard to prevent access to the Sanctuary's power.
On the other hand, the nearby Mr. Saturns come across as a very intelligent species. (After all, later in the game, they are able to help Dr. Andonuts construct a device that can warp time.) In addition to their intelligence it would also seem that they have at least some telekinetic abilities to overcome their lack of arms hindering their day-to-day activities. Finally, at the end of the game they are able to receive the prayer from Paula and themselves pray for the safety of the Chosen Four, which indicates at least a rudimentary belief in the supernatural.
So, if we go along this train of thought, it would seem that the Mr. Saturns may have needed some sort of sacred place of their own. Before Giygas ever started influencing events, the Mr. Saturns had already discovered Milky Well and through generations of a combination of technology, psychokinesis, and faith, they managed to forge quite a powerful region.
Upon discovery of this area, Giygas was obviously pleased. It would provide a source of power that would allow some of his weaker minions to become quite strong. According to one Mr. Saturn, "Once upon a time, we were many, many. Everyday, slowly are less, less." One can only imagine what must have happened: essentially a gradual massacre at the hands of Giygas' minions over control of the sanctuary's power. The Saturns seem to be peaceful beings and were relatively safe in their valley, so they likely didn't have much in the way of defense and as such were easily overtaken. Most of them were killed, although a small portion was taken into slavery, and for some unknown reason a few of them were left alone. From the game we can tell that it was Belch responsible for the Mr. Saturns; the Saturns are free once he is defeated, even though the Milky Well sanctuary hasn't been reclaimed yet. Freeing the Mr. Saturns and returning their defiled sanctuary to them left the Saturns with a great debt of gratitude to the Four, a debt which they would later repay with the help of Dr. Andonuts.
