There is no shortage of death in the award-winning humor, characters, and violence. Especially the latter.
Bloody as the day is long, Sons draws incredible SAMCRO family were authentic and relatable, making it easy for fans to fall for their favorites. But when those fictional favorites fall, the emotions were all too real.
Piney
A true Redwood Original, Piney (William Lucking) was the last honorable club founder for SAMCRO. Not one for the spotlight, he worked as the Guardian of the Clubhouse and kept the MC together by its roots. However, his vigilant eye discovered the truth about Clay (Ron Perlman), infamously resulting in Piney's shotgunned death.
In the season 3 finale, Tara (Maggie Siff) learns that JT (Nicholas Guest) was murdered by Clay and Gemma (Katey Sagal). She brings the truth to Piney, JT’s best friend, and the two plan on how to stop their evil reign. Before doing so, Clay finds him in the cabin, where Piney meets his end at the hands of a longtime brother.
Unser
As the MC’s closest confidant, Chief Unser (Dayton Callie) managed years of balance between law enforcement and club “activities.” His dedication to SAMCRO was driven entirely by his love for Gemma, and it was this love from afar that brought him closer than ever to death.
Describing Gemma as “all [he] has left,” Unser is torn between saving his love or saving himself, as he stands as an obstacle between a vengeful Jax (Charlie Hunnam) and a guilty Gemma. Guns drawn and aimed, he refuses to back down from Jax, resulting in a blatantly symbolic shot to the heart.
Half-Sack
Undoubtedly the top prospect in the show, Half-Sack (Jonathan Kendrick Lewis) showed amazing potential early on. He was a tough kid, a championship street fighter ready to lay down his life for the club. During the heartbreaking finale of season 2, that honor is exactly what brings him to his ultimate fate, ending his life to save a new one.
Due to false reports, the Irishman Cameron Hayes (Jamie McShane) believes Gemma has shot his son dead. In desperate revenge, he races to the Teller home to kill Jax’s newborn son but in a heroic attempt to save the boy, Half-Sack rushes in to fight, saving the child’s life but losing his own. The MC lays his official cut on his coffin, forever now SAMCRO.
Clay
The Clay Morrow is the ultimate mix of abhorrent evil and beguiling charisma. Forever altering the basic "evil stepfather" type, his character arch is one of the most drastic in the series. As he grows from diabolical and immoral to peaceful and conscientious, audiences loved to hate and hated to love this presidential badass.
His reign as president of the MC was fueled by sinister sins and diabolical deeds, and he never ceased to surprise viewers with his wickedness. Even more surprising, though, was his change of heart to honor and love. It shouldn’t have been sad to see Clay go, and yet many couldn’t help but feel lost with the fall of the longtime leader.
Bobby
Bobby’s (Mark Boone Junior) death was a crushing blow to SAMCRO. He was the voice of reason for the club, keeping things (relatively) in-line with a good moral com and conscience, all while being a true Man of Mayhem. Bobby was never afraid to fight and always kept his honor, even during his tormented end.
A prisoner of August Marks' (Billy Brown), Bobby is held as blackmail to the club, losing his eye and hand to torture until Jax makes a deal for his life. At the meet to save him, and just as the club leaders come to an agreement, Marks shoots Bobby in the head as revenge for Jax’s betrayal, leaving the club a shattered wreck.
Jax
A leather-wearing, bike riding, gun-toting, modern-day Hamlet, Jax was destined to die since the series premiere. Nonetheless, the dwindling minutes of Sons of Anarchy were an emotional shock for SAMCRO and the fans alike, as Jax sets out on his final ride to fulfill his father’s destiny. Gruesome yet graceful, he meets Mr. Mayhem in typical Teller fashion – bloody.
For the better part of a decade, the Prince was unstoppable. Consistently Machiavellian, Jax believed his ends justified his means, especially when protecting the ones he loved. He was the quintessential anti-hero whom many ired and feared. Emotional for all the right reasons, Jax’s death wasn’t just the end of a show, but rather the end of an era.
Gemma
Time and time again Gemma proved to be as manipulative and wicked as they come. Yet, even after all the egregious lies and murder, audiences couldn’t help but feel sympathetic for The Matriarch in her death, making peace with her wrongdoings and accepting inevitable redemption at the hands of her son.
After the brutal murder of Tara and the tragedies that ensued from Gemma's lies, the once-proud grande dame of SAMCRO became a shell of herself struggling to keep her family together. Jax finds out the truth, but before he comes to avenge his murdered wife, Gemma visits her dementia-ill father for a final goodbye. In the garden of her childhood home, a bullet to the brain ends the Queen’s reign.
Stahl/ Jimmy O’
Unlike most in the show, the deaths of Agent Stahl (Ally Walker) and Jimmy O' (Titus Welliver) during the season 3 finale were emotional in the best ways possible. In one of the most gripping seasons of television, Jax makes a deal with Stahl to turn over Jimmy O' so his club would face a shorter time behind bars, among other things. Stahl breaks her promise to keep the deal a secret, and tells the MC that “the Prince has turned rat.”
They disown Jax and promise him death as they ship him off to jail. As Stahl transports Jimmy O to the Feds, Unser pulls her over to talk on the side of the road. In an unbelievable twist of events, Piney arrives with the club’s other Reapers, allowing Opie (Ryan Hurst) and Chibs (Tommy Flanagan) to avenge personal vendettas: Blasting Stahl’s brains and slicing Jimmy O’s face. A letter from Jax to Gemma reveals their secret plan all along, as the jail-bound bikers earn a short sentence and ultimate redemption.
Tara
Shocking, distressing, and disturbing, these are just a few words that describe the dreadful death of SAMCRO’s Ophelia. With death after death throughout the series, viewers can grow numb. However, no amount of death could prepare anyone for the horrendous turn of events during the climax of season 6.
After an extremely stressful season, Jax decides to turn himself in to get Tara and his sons safely out of Charming, but miscommunication leads Gemma to assume that Tara ratted on Jax instead. With no lack of love for her family, Gemma will always do whatever necessary to keep and protect her own, including the savage murder of the mother of her grandchildren.
Opie
Throughout the entirety of television, there are few fictional deaths as vicious and heartbreaking as the gory end to the Prince’s Right Hand. A literal ride-or-die since childhood, Opie’s loyalty to Jax never faltered; a selfless quality that led to him doing the ultimate sacrifice for his brother and club.
To get out of prison, SAMCRO’s Big 4 must sacrifice one of themselves to fill a debt for Damon Pope (Harold Perrineau): A life for a life. In his last show of honor, Opie makes the shocking decision to fight until a brutal death, looking finally at his three brothers before being bashed by a pipe. Even the toughest of riders couldn’t help shed a tear for the death of SAMCRO’s most honorable Reaper.