Ok so as a mediocre beginner writer, sometimes you do have to tell. Show don't tell is a good rule, but sometimes it is much more natural for a character to explain something or tell something to someone, especially when it's something that would be hard to show. Also you want show and tell to be balanced, sometimes people get caught up in giving no exposition or explanation and so tell nothing and you get a situation like Balan Wonderworld. However, I do think maybe adding a scene where Gale sucks the magic out of an item late at night could be helpful, setting the hook, so his telling feels more justified cause we are asking for him to explain.
I have written a fair bit myself, although I don't think much of my writing, which was why I didn't fall back on what I have written as an appeal to authority (aside from the fact that appeals to authority are a bad form of argumentation). Its also why I haven't quit my day job and only write as a creative outlet in my spare time :P Obviously sometimes you do need to tell, but not to the extent to which BG 3 does. The natural time to tell is when a companion interjects on a subject they feel strongly about and in the case of Shadowheart, she should have a strong alter ego lined up to cover for her Sharran story. You should have to piece together who she is from what she doesn't say, not learn who she is from everything that she does say. A lot of the information which is provided for companions currently could be conveyed to the player without overtly telling them.
