i just rewatched the scene in MJ2 where katniss asks if it was their bomb.
"the delayed explosion. the trap. to draw more people in?"
and gale, eyes filled with tears says "i don't know"
and he didn't. he thought it was theirs. but you can't ever be sure in war. and i think that's one thing katniss doesn't understand. she saw him as a gamemaker.
not a soldier.
and i think that is part of the problem. she likened the war to an arena because that is what she intimately knew. but the arena is just that. an arena. it's a GAME.
war isn't a game. and it's not pretty.
anyway...
and then gale goes on to say
"i don't know. all i know is i was supposed to take care of your family. and i'm sorry i couldn't."
and katniss just says "goodbye, gale."
this was just confirmation that katniss had made her decision.
it's why he didn't argue. he didn't finish the conversation. he didn't try to defend anything because there was nothing left to defend. district 12 and life as they knew it was long gone. that and he knows katniss way better than she knows herself and he knew it was a dead end street and if he just walked away (another reason why he never went to see her....he knew that relationship in all forms was dead) it would be easier on HER.
not him.
on her.
so he left the room, shut the door, headed back to report to coin that katniss was aware she was needed, went to his room alone and wept.
he wept because it was over.
everything.
every. single. thing. he. knew.
was over
in that moment