Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Justice for Gale

Before I start, I want to say that I absolutely appreciate and acknowledge all the hard work put into this game as we’ve seen with the constant support and new content. That being said, there are always things to be worked on and since you guys welcome feedback, I thought I would put in my two cents. In light of this article coming out, I wanted to voice some frustrations and concerns that have been on my mind. There are many things I didn’t like about it but I’m focusing on Gale for now as he is my favorite companion.

I want to address the treatment of Gale in this community by the writers and in game by other characters as well. It seems like we the players are meant to find him annoying and that he was actually supposed to be written that way, like his main purpose was just to irk the player. I’ve always had my doubts that this was just a consequence of the romance bug early on when the game came out, but to see the studio pick up on that joke and ride it out in this way is a slap to all Gale fans, his writer and his actor. He is a complex character that represents depression, su*cide and many themes of abuse of power. To see him be reduced to this joke and that the “right” ending is for him to blow up as some sort of redemption for his hubris (which isn’t even that big of an offense) and because he eats 3 useless magic items is offensive to people who relate to him. I feel at times that the intent is we should be ashamed or even embarrassed for liking Gale and this is really evident in moments in the game from NPC’s and even companions (calling him boring, that “Mock me if you will…” dialogue, more instances like this).

A lot of fans relate to his character and consider him a comfort of sorts. Calling the ending where he blows himself up the “right” ending negates and even diminishes the meaning of the good ending he has where he can actually redeem himself. Also, this is a decisions based game, so there is no “right” ending because it can go so many ways and it invalidates the choices players made in their playthroughs. Gale is more than just him being “annoying” (which he isn’t, but other companions yap a lot too if we're being honest), eating all your magic items (3!!!), simping over his ex (his literal goddess) and blowing himself up. He has an engaging storyline and arc that mirrors a certain popular vampire elf character (I love him don’t come after me) but for some reason, Gale is seen as needy, weak and yappy while the other one’s struggles are acknowledged and empathized with. There’s definitely a double standard because these characters are literally 2 sides of the coin but one gets treated way better than the other.

I’m extremely tired of seeing Gale be the punching bag of the group, as are so many other fans. It’s such a disservice to his character and many players get turned off to him because of all this negative talk that surrounds him. It would be nice to see him be treated with much more dignity in game and in community.

Anyways I have a lot more to say but at the end of the day, it is just a video game. However, the way the writers talk about their characters kills any desire I have left to continue any one of my playthroughs.

Also don't talk to certain npcs about your romance with him. Your character will apparently even agree when they call him "boring".

The interviewer doesn't seem to like Gale or Wyll much. Their favorite scene of Wyll was just being able to sleep with Mizora which has nothing to do with him or his character, lol.

Lol that article sure ruffled some feathers (mine included) for a number of reasons. Larian obviously didn't expect people to find these companions so relatable.

I personally do find Gale annoying and only like him when he's not talking, but that's because he talks so much I just don't have the patience. His main purpose really isn't to irk the player though. It's to kill things with magic with great efficiency.

I've never romanced him. You really have to call him boring?

Are they referring to the scene with the Orc lady? If I remember it's along the lines of, "Mock me as you may, but I like Gale." or something like that.

I agree that that interview was pretty lame, starting with how they seem to have talked over and spoken for the one female writer who was there. But yeah how they talked about the characters, whom many love and are attached to, was far too flippant and callous for my liking. And they seemed to take pleasure in the idea of some characters’ most tragic endings, e.g., Karlach and Gale.

Gale, for me, is a somewhat pretentious self-absorbed guy at first, but I warmed up to him in the Grove when he showed that he had such a soft spot for mischievous kids. He seems like a genuinely good, nerdy guy at heart, but they do keep his attitude…. just, yeah, a bit annoying throughout. Which I AGREE he did not deserve and it’s not cool that it would be a running joke.

Hey, someone made me a Gale thread, so I don't have to seize other thread's to talk about Gale! =)

First of all, I don't think blowing himself up is his "real" ending, they write about that it feels like a "right" ending. And while I would never do this to Gale, I agree. Having him sacrifice himself in Act 3 is a very poetic ending. He got the orb as a failed labour of love but ultimately for selfish reasons. In Act 2 he is not prepared to sacrifice himself for his goddess - and it would have horrible consequences if he did. When he offers to blow himself up for the group/ Tav in Act 3, he does it so nobody has to loose their soul, the consequence of becoming a mindflayer. Motivated by his care for others he uses the curse of his own ambition to take out both the symbol of unbridled human ambition, the crown of Karsus, and the ultimate creature of domination, the Elderbrain. And he does it in a fairly humble manner. It is very poetic.

I also don't really like it because allowing him to blow himself up despite knowing that he still thinks the world would be better off without him, is kind of like making Astarion drink from Araj to get the potion. It allows them to play into their worst opinions of themselves.


Z'rell is not a nice character and judging from her "gift" she is very much into domination and power-play. Of course she calls Gale pathetic because Gale is sweet (and a fair bit depressed in that moment) in her eyes that is probably pathetic. If you distract her with thoughts of Astarion, she'll basically gush over what a juicy piece of elf he is and talk about him as if he was some kind of pleasure toy. I think her comments are meant to be cruel, both towards the character who gets objectified and the PC who probably cares about their romantic partner.

I think much of Gale bashing comes from this stupid concept of talking badly about the character who is the direct "competition" of one's favourite. I don't know why, but apparently that's a thing and dear Astarion has some very enthusiastic fans - to put it mildly. Personally, I like them both and think that if you romance them with each other, you get the best story out of it.

Also I get most out of Gale's story when I don't take it quite so literally. He is in love with Mystra yes, but mostly he is in love with magic, with his craft and the obsession with it brought him to ruin. Read this way, it becomes a story about work-life balance and - much as in Astarion's case - about the necessity to connect with others. But that is a reading that requires some thought, while Astarion's story is a very literal abuse story. Gale also hides much of his pain very cleverly behind humour or his very matter-of-fact attitude, which makes it maybe harder to detect it. For example all cases in which his projection appears are hilarious but if you take a step back and think about them, they are all quite tragic.


P.S. I always have to laugh when people complain about the items he eats. They clearly haven't played his Origin, otherwise they'd know what real pain looks like. My beautiful, beautiful Ring of Evasion. ^^

Nah I'm making him a god, because screw Mystra.

That is such a terribly sad ending, at least in origin.

Epilogue though? I think at the very least a romanced Gale can succeed. Don't know if it's only exclusive to his romanced version. If so, pity I don't swing that way.

The God of Ambition epilogue in Gale's Origin felt very sad to me because it was so incredibly lonely, very fun but also very lonely. You can probably have more fun with his romanced God version though. But I prefer him as an adventurer in the end. =)

Gale rather grew on me as I played *as* him. As a companion, I do find him a little too talky, but then again - I have that with most companions. Wyll - and by extension Mizora are just annoying as the Hells. Nowadays, I pick a party of four that I run with and don't recruit anyone else.

But I include Gale for all my arcane needs, for certain. I like him better than Wyll, but Mizora popping up *all the time* triggering a bazillion conversations with both Karlach and Wyll.. Gods no. He was kind of bugged or something at release, where he was super-easy on the romance and that rubbed many people the wrong way, including myself. But as a character, I quite like him. His backstory is a little...... Well, they put him among the levels of Elminster, where I'd say he needs another thousand years and a pointy hat before he could kick his arse. Also, that kind of power-level is something that would have been an established character beforehand. Maybe he is, but it's super-weird that I've never heard of Gale of Waterdeep if he's *that* big a deal. Anyway. They all have these wicked over-the-top backstories, and Gale is no different, I suppose.

However, he comes across as an actual person to me; much more so than most others. I don't really know how or why he's the punching bag, though.

I like Gale, he is the friendliest companion in the beginning. I normally meet him, after a certain slightly crazy vampire put a knife to my neck, so I really appreciate Gale being polite and friendly. And while he sometimes doesn't have the best ideas, he is one of my favourite companions. If I want a really chill party, I have Gale, Wyll and Karlach with me and leave team drama queen at home. Jaheira works too later in the game.

I haven't finished the game yet, so I'm not going to spoil myself by reading that article.

I just wanted to say that I love Gale because he is the stereotypical nerdy bookloving guy that I always go for. At first I was irked that he was still mooning over his ex, but after discovering who she was, I got over it. (I'm playing a Cleric of Bahamut and if she had the same chance I know she'd take it -- btw, dragons can take any form they want so don't get uppity.)

That's the vibe I got as well, Wyll needs more love too and his story is definitely suffering for it.


Ha, I had to start one. It's my first time posting here so apologies if I get something wrong with the format. But what can I say, I'm a Gale girlie and honestly just had enough of people being dismissive of his character. I agree with others that he can be a bit much at times, but other characters can also talk my ear off (Wyll, Lae'zel, even Halsin) and I tend to skip over a lot of their dialogue.
I don't consider his ending where he sacrifices himself to be the right ending (not real whoops, misspoke there) either, which is why I was confused when that was said. It was a real surprise that a writer would even say that when there are so many ways this story can go. It kind of makes me feel like my playthrough where I saved him is pointless if that was "intended" to be his ending. They could've worded that a whole better, especially since this is an interview that fans would read.

I guess it all boils down to him becoming a joke and no one taking him or his story seriously. Part of the reason is articles like this where they feed into the bias, which is my initial problem.
There are just so many instances where Gale constantly gets demeaned though it's hard to keep track. I mean, if Larian can soften the female companions because a bunch of Reddit bros complained about how "icy" and "harsh" they were (I don't agree, I think women should have the right to be mean and not have to be softened to be more palatable for men), then they could also change the narrative around Gale at least with his companions and have them say AT LEAST one nice thing about him in banter/general conversations. This man needs a hug and for someone to tell him he's good enough. To call him annoying is a disservice to the complexity of his character and those who enjoy it.


I like to think most Astarion fans hate Gale so much because they see themselves in him and don't want to admit it. I can't tell you how many Astarion x Gale playthroughs I have currently where I explore their dynamic a bit more because they're so interesting together. You can either make them good, bad or have it where one of them ascends. It's a very interesting duo and it's a shame that Astarion fans are missing out on it.

Have Gale ascend, leave Astarion as a spawn. Both can become gods together with Astarion breaking the cycle and Gale succeeding with his ambition. Happy ending for both.

Gale is fine, he can go on rambling if he likes. I just need a "tell me a story" option for him in camp, which prompts him to tell some fun anecdotes.


Right in the sense that it feels like a round conclusion to his arc, for his character/person it is a horrible ending. Just if that was fuzzy in what I wrote. And it would probably been more subtle of them to call it a heroic ending.

I think, I feel less outrage about this because I was aware of it before. I mean, all of them have some kind of heroic cut-scene that concludes their character arc - apart from Gale and Karlach. Gale's dramatic cutscene is hidden in the explosion ending and Karlach's is burning at the docks. In his companion-version, he also had zero closure in any of his other possible endings (Edit: before the epilogue I mean). While with Karlach on the other hand they leaned in hard to make her death sad. Which is why, I think ...


Karlach is the main problem here. The companions aren't too often nice about each other in general, but you have two characters with a bomb in their chests and possible suicide endings, yet the story really really wants you to like one of them while the other is treated like normal. So everyone has something nice to say about Karlach and you have tons of moments that are supposed to make you feel sorry for her, so it stings when she blows up. Gale on the other hand doesn't get that special treatment, you now just get a very sad moment at the epilogue that maybe makes you question your decision.


Ha! So do you also treat breaking into the Vault at Sorcerous Sundries as a first date for them too?

Personally, Gale's Origin is my favourite version of this game and I really love how much of a devil on your should Astarion becomes in it. Almost always when the narration reminds you about what Mystra would want, there is a scene in which Astarion tries to pull you into the other direction. His whole "lets take over the cult" spiel in Act2 is just delicious if it hits the depressed guy who is charged with blowing the whole tower up.

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.

I mean, his 3rd act quest is literally 'Let's go to that bookshop - what is not to love about that?

Even better, it's: "Let's break into that bookshop and get powerful magical books, all the Lvl 6 Spell Scrolls, a bunch of potions and a cute hat!" Such a good caper.