Here's another point. In the movie scene, Lae'zel is the first to escape. She is perched on the only path you can take. Why does she stop you, but she didn't stop Gale?... Assuming Gale left one of the pods in that beginning chamber before you but after Lae'zel?
See? I always presumed Gale and Astarion and the others were elsewhere on the ship, perhaps the big pod chamber you find later. But then, Gale's comment makes no sense at all.
