I think basically everything that can be said about that interview regarding Gale has been said but I did see some people be like “Well, but Gale is annoying and his stans are just woobifying him” and like. 

Like, okay. Gale is annoying. And Lae’zel is mean, Shadowheart is a bitch, Astarion is a cunt, Karlach is happy all the time all the time and Wyll is boringly well adjusted. That’s…the first impression you get of them in Act 1. That’s not even their full arc in Act 1, that’s literally the first few minutes you get with them! And then all of Act 1 is just undoing all of that.

In Gale’s specific case, being annoying isn’t even his main flaw. Like it gets brought up, I think because the writers wanted to make sure we would know this is a flaw he actually has in case you, like me, did not even notice you were supposed to be annoyed by him. But it’s not a serious issue or something it’s even remotely implied he has to work on. They still all end up liking each other and working together and flirting at each other. He’s a nerd that talks a lot and unless you end up in a jealousy convo no one really cares. His blissfully happy ending is to become a professor. His infodumping is so good the narrative lets him do it forever.

Gale being annoying (or being bothersome for eating your artifacts) is the player’s problem. You don’t have to like him, you don’t have to like anyone, but the narrative is not there to make a big deal out of it. Why should it? Everyone is flawed and then they get better. If you ignore Gale for being annoying or stake Astarion for being a vampire or forget to save Mizora condemning Wyll to the hells it’s a you problem, just like it’s a you problem if you push Shadowheart to embrace Shar and then Shadowheart is cold to you. 

Which is why the writers saying “Well, Gale is annoying so the fact that he sacrifices himself helps him redeem himself” is bonkers (just like rewriting Lae’zel lines to be more palatable is bonkers). Like it’s not just a bad take, it’s a “Gale was annoying so I ignored him the whole game so I don't know what his deal is” take. From the writers. Of the game.

And the rest applies to other weird instances of writing during the game. Like yeah, you can treat Gale horribly, you can treat everyone horribly. You can take advantage of Astarion, you can sell out Shadowheart, you can cheat on Wyll with Mizora and then tell him it’s his own fucking fault for not “pulling out”. But the game doesn’t try to imply that it’s funny that Astarion dissociates during sex. But it somehow is when Gale has to be persuaded into group sex, bolts and then the morning after he is like “Can we just never talk of this again”. And like Gale isn’t special in this regard, there is some stuff with Halsin, Wyll (no seriously what was that short) and even Raphael that is frankly appalling, but it really doesn’t help with the “we just never talked to Gale” vibe. Like if you romance Gale there is a line in the brothel where you can say that if you wanted boring sex you would have just had sex... with Gale. 

Gale “I read tons of erotic books and I have so many ideas. Let's do it in the Weave so we can try as many as possible” Dekarios. 

Also, nevermind all the serious implications, “He wasn’t ready for [his sacrifice] before but now he is” it’s like not even what happens. Like it’s not even what he says. I should not be reading an interview with the writers of a game and be like “did they just skip all of the dialogue”. 

(That interview was also very weird about Karlach but also I just feel like that interview was weird in general, like they just were in a rush and couldn’t really talk in depth about anything so it was vague lines for everyone, it's just that those about Gale particularly sucked).