If Astarion was in a pod that wasn't damaged, (much like Shadowheart) then presumably, he might have seen us - he could have been trapped in any of the pods we pass that are still intact. I get the impression that's the implication with him.
Gale's comment is more difficult to fit in - it means that Gale must have been out of confinement and in the process of escaping before us, and before the dragon assault really kicked into high gear - but also in confinement long enough to get infested in the first place. Assuming he was perhaps in a different chamber and was seen to first, before us, that gives him a small window of time to break out on his own, once the Illithid's back was turned, and escape through our chamber - assuming our character was out of the ruptured pod and unconscious on the ground - but that Gale himself wasn't about to stick around and check the pulse of every body he passed. There are a number of patrolling IDs about the ship - so it's possible that in that margin one was examining us, before we woke up, but scuttled away after, once it knew we were both alive, and also a beautiful weapon... but the timing for all of that is pretty narrow, and it makes a number of assumptions we can't confirm.
The question is whether you put it down to being an inconsistency in Gale, or just an inconsistency in the writing... How strong is your faith in Larian's writing chops?
One thing I found weird with Astarion is he literally YELLS at you for running around while he was in the pod. I definitely didn't see occupied pods except for Shadowheart and the woman who turned into a mindflayer... and he must've been conscious in the pod, since he saw you. Where exactly was his pod? It's a super minor detail so I don't really care too much about it, but each room is somewhat cut off from another with the tunnel entrances. How did he see us running about long enough to assume that the PC is in league with the illithids (or maybe he jumped to conclusions, his WIS isn't that great).
