Going into the big decision point before the final battle, I had max affinity with my companions, Gale, Shadowheart, and Lae'zel. I had leaned hard into making good decisions and choosing redemptive paths. The decision I am asked to make seems rather binary, but then Gale offers a 3rd option. Despite this, I was still forced to make the choice between the original two options. Later, Gale offers to go through with his suggestion, even though it's impact is diminished because I already made a big sacrifice by picking one of the two original options.
To be more precise, I freed Orpheus only to be told that someone has to become a mind flayer. I tell Orpheus that I need a minute to talk to my companions. I have a conversation with Gale where he poignantly explains that he is willing to use the orb to take out the netherbrain. Going back to Orpheus, he simply asks if I have decided who is becoming a mind flayer. There is no dialog option at all to bring up Gale's offer. I tried making Gale talk to Orpheus, but this made no difference. I was forced to have someone become a mind flayer despite Gale's alternative, which as many others have pointed out, was a deeply unsatisfying resolution.
Earlier, when talking to the Emperor, Gale actually breaks into the conversation to make his offer about using the orb. Frustratingly, the Emperor flatly refuses to entertain this as an option, but I got zero acknowledgement about Gale from my talk with Orpheus. None of this makes sense. Allowing Gale to sacrifice himself would be a poignant ending that makes sense narratively, particularly if it avoids someone needing to turn into a mind flayer.
Has anyone else experienced the same thing or was my play-through bugged in some way? Bug or not, it seems very flawed either way.
