I Wish We'd Seen Joseph Quinn act out Geta's Historical Death Scene
So, the decapitation scene in Gladiator II is dramatic and all, but in my humble opinion, I wish that we'd gotten Geta's historical death scene because I feel there's even more weight to him not only dying in his mother's arms but pretty much walking into his own assassination. I promise I'm not being that person who's just saying "UGH, it's not historically accurate". I actually do feel that it would have added to the drama to follow the history in this case.
For context, Caracalla had attempted to murder Geta literally a week before the actual murder took place. And even before then, we know that Geta was very aware of the threat that his brother posed to him because of all the security measures he went through. Caracalla ultimately has Geta murdered by stating he wants to arrange a "peace talk" in their mother's chambers, and since they were supposed to be at peace, Geta was not allowed to bring his guards. Geta complies, so he has no protection besides his desperate mother who ends up literally soaked in blood.
Firstly, the angst potential is just about as good as it gets here. I would've loved to see Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger act this out. But besides that, I think the historical events lend themselves to very interesting interpretations of Geta's character.
The fact that Geta not only agrees to this but follows through in bringing no security detail is really surprising to me, and by that virtue, I think there's so much to explore about why he did it. Was he actually that naive that he believed Caracalla was truthful in his intentions to settle for peace? You could definitely write this off to him placing too much faith in blood being thicker than water, but my theory is that there was something more to it because Geta overall made no pretense about mistrusting his brother. They were notorious for having a tumultuous relationship from the time they were children. So, I feel there was something else at play besides the fact that Caracalla is family.
Also, unlike the film, at the time that Geta was murdered, there's evidence that he was likely popular. He's described as having more equanimity and having a friendlier disposition than his brother, and there's theories that the army took well to him because of the strong resemblance between Geta and his father. That's why Caracalla has to really spin the story to frame him as a tyrant and get away with the murder. So, it doesn't seem logical for Geta to surrender to his brother either. Unless his perception of his own image in the public was so pessimistic that he saw the need. With no surviving first-person accounts from Geta and all his close associates murdered soon after him, there's really no way of saying whether he was insecure about his popularity as an independent emperor.
I think it's possible that insecurity might have been a factor because Geta throughout history is described as being pretty dependent on others. (This is one thing that I actually think the movie got pretty accurate by having him leaning on first Acacius and then Macrinus, both of which ended horribly for him.) His father is constantly arranging for older mentors to watch out for him even after Geta is pretty far past the age of maturity by Roman standards. And after his father's death, Geta essentially does everything that his mother is recorded as having asked him to do, including the peace talk. Could this pattern of dependence have made him paradoxically reluctant towards becoming sole emperor despite saying and doing everything to imply the opposite up until his death?
Ultimately, there's no way of knowing of course. But I think it's an interesting characterization point. I love the vulnerability that Joseph Quinn brought to the character, and I would have absolutely loved to see him have more screen time and how he would have portrayed the historical death.