This makes no sense to me.
You’re upset because you think the writers intentionally made him annoying, but you found him to be your favourite companion and go on to explain how complex a character he is. So he wasn’t annoying, then?
In the interview they only mention people find him annoying at the very start of the game, and that’s mainly due to his condition. You haven’t found many magical items and Gale tells you he needs to regularly eat them. But that becomes practically no issue at all. I was a little worried he was going to need more and more powerful items throughout the game. (It was way more of a big deal in early access).
You have the option for Gale to sacrifice himself to save the world. That’s a pretty major character arc and very far from a joke. You can make him the hero of the whole story, which is what he would do if you don’t give him another option.
Also I believe they’ve addressed the issue of people getting surprise romance from him by adding an extra dialogue option.
