Okay, I am sorry if any of that came across as harsh, and I promise it's not intended to be fighty or fractious... The first and second drafts of this were... sleep-deprived and aggressive. I sincerely hope that this reads a bit better!
I'll add the final caveat onto this: I know people like Gale - to a certain extent I Am people like Gale; I tend to be drawn towards people who share these positive traits, and I'm pretty well equipped and experienced with picking out where they can go bad or get nasty; I try, very hard, to avoid those pitfalls and unhealthy behaviours myself - but that's real life and real people, and this is a video game, with fictional characters written by fallible people so I'm happy enough to admit that my instincts and reads may come up false, no matter how clear and transparent they seem to me. Gale does seem clear and transparent to me; I feel I can see and understand his drives and his insecurities, the things he wants to hide or downplay, the core of his persona at his centre and how he both hides and attempts to exhibit that to others. But, the writers may decide otherwise, and that will be their call.
i used to see the official description about the five "origin characters" are "biased evil", this includes gale.
that is why i suspect gale, because he is "too" good, he agree and is very happy to see i do the things as a tyr paladin.
gale's words make me feel comfortable, moderate, even lae'zel can not be picky from his speech.
gale talks about the story -- karsus's folly.
i sigh -- "mortals should not attempt of becoming gods."
but gale replies -- "but we should not worship a god blindly."
from the talking, i know gale appreciate karsus, gale beautifies the his action "absorbing the dark magic shard" as a beautiful romance -- gale's folly for love mystra... , but in my view, this "love" will deteriorate to devour mystra. and mystra knows clearly that gale's essence that too similar with karsus. mystra keeps him alive might be just for dealing with the one behind gale.
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i think gale is hypnotized by a certain existence(such as shar).
this makes gale truely think tht he is "loving mystra", so that even you use "tadpole" or "perception" can not see through his lie. this can perfect cover ambition.
