Gate of Deep Sorrows bug

Experiencing the same issue! Didn't have any of these issues during my original playthrough. Also unable to open any of the elven rare item chests (you know the ones with the three dots that require the knife? was only able to open one and now they're all greyed out and I can't interact with any) and suddenly also unable to activate wolf statues. Unsure if any of this is related but it's clear this save is kinda screwed, haha.

EDIT:

Wait! Figured it out! Doesn't solve my other bugs but this was driving me nuts. You go in through a different area, not that gate. The one we were both puzzled by is actually the exit, which is what I was thinking.

Go back to the area with all of the spirits and head through an entrance to your left in this area:

This should bring you along the right path. I know I got ahead of myself and opened the area initially to go back to, so I threw the flow off.