Gale's whole arc was so perfectly set out and foreshadowed from the begining it's making me go absolutely insane.
When Katniss introduces us to Gale, the first thing he does is mock Effie - and by extension - Capitol. This clearly shows his distain and contempt which is very valid and understandable.
Next he talks about how he would want kids, if he didn't live in district 12, or in Panem at all, showcasing the urge to change it all, the underlaying hope of things being different, which Katniss didn't share. Katniss talks about how she'd never be able to leave Prim, how Prim is her life and all she does is FOR Prim. I would wager to go as far as speculate that this is the first sign in the fundemental differances between Gale and Katniss. While he is able to hope and wish for better things, Katniss is firmly rooted in the current reality not seeing an out and not really having any revolutionary spark. This shows the begining of how Gale would be able to prioritize "if" instead of "now" if it meant, things could change.
Later on, there is interaction with Madge, Gale letting his feelings talk over his rational mind. He snaps at her, shoving her privalage in her face, even though, he rationally knows that it's not her fault and that she is also opressed under the same system, also under the constant threat of the Reaping.
At this point of the story, Katniss and Gale are very similiar when it comes to their mindsets, they live the same reality, have almsot exactly the same circumstances, their differances are minimal.
As the books progress though, their lives start to difffer greatly. Katniss goes through the Games, seeing the Capitol's cruetly up close, yet also being confronted with two things:
How it is to kill a person
How most Capitol citizents are brainwashed pawns of the system who are raised to think that the cruelty around them is normal.
Katniss is confronted with horrific reality of actual murder and also with humanity that Capitol citizens still hold, how even if arrogant, they're still human and they are still being hurt by the system, in a different, more privalaged way.
The lesson Katniss learns in Catching Fire is to remember who the real enemy is. Gale does not get taught that lesson, only thing he gets, is fuel for his hatered for the Capitol.
This further leads into the Mockinjay, where Gale, a hopeful, angry, young man is further manipulated by Coin into growing his contempt and further dehuminzing Captiol citizens, making all of them become his enemies.
That is why he comes up with the bomb. (Side note here, it wasn't all his idea, we can't just keep saying that, Beetee also had his hand in this but it's another can of worms for another post). The bomb which targets innocents, medics, the demographic that fits Prim perfectly. He is able to come up with that because he not only doesn't see captiol citizens as human, but also since he can prioritise the "if" over the "now". This directly lead to the tragedy which was Prim's death.
Did he ever regret letting his feelings take over his rational thought? Was Prim's death an awakaning for him or did he stay validated in his belief that "if" was more important than "now"? We will never trully know that.
Gale's arc is a cautionary tale, of not letting your feelings dicate radical actions which bring harm to other and also of trully remembering who the enemy is.
Katniss states it the best in the ending, he was a fire she didn't need. He burned so bright that his good intentions got turned into a weapon. He burned innocents, his loved ones and himself.
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