How does clay die in sons of anarchy

While Clay was a fan favorite, his role in the show was always going to end in death, just like Claudius in Hamlet. In many ways, the overall structure of the series was heavily based on the play, especially Gemma, Jax and Clay's roles.

Claudius murdered Gertrude's husband, his brother, and then married her prior to the events of the play. Similarly, Clay murdered John, Gemma's husband and his metaphorical brother, and married her prior to the events of Sons of Anarchy. Therefore, Clay's role in the story was to die and leave room for Jax's assentation to leadership. Clay's death was always an intentional trajectory and essential part of the overall story, particularly in Jax's arc.

Clay immediately sees an opportunity to make Jacob Hale believe he has investors in time. His idea is that he will have the investors pull out at the last minute, which will put an end to Charming Heights. After retrieving the last brick of cocaine that Juice had stolen framing it into Miles , Clay asks Romeo for help killing Tara , to keep the secret of the letters hidden. After discussing trust issues and differences in the cabin, Clay leaves only to break down the door knocking Piney off his feet.

Piney begs Clay not to get Tara involved in the letters from JT. Clay shoots Piney in the chest with a shotgun killing him. This makes Piney the 3rd member of the First 9, and the 2nd and final co-founding member of the Sons of Anarchy to be killed at the hands of Clay as Piney and John Teller co-founded the club, which were both ultimately killed by Clay. He leaves the markings of the cartel to make it seem like they were responsible for the murder.

Given the difficult circumstances of the club, Clay calls to the Irish Kings for a meeting to set a new deal that lets them survive the war against Lobos Sonora. He later finds out that the One Niners have been dealing with the Sonora and the Sons plan an attack using the Niners to lure them, this fails however as Sonora's men were equipped with grenade launchers.

Clay is confronted by Jax when he hears from Bobby that Clay wanted Bobby instead of Opie as president as was the deal, and says it is Tara's fault that Jax changed, but Jax warns him to never insult her again. Gemma tells him that Tara will not reveal the letters to Jax out of fear that he will get deeper into the club out of guilt and promises to Gemma he won't hurt Tara. However, he uses the cellphone given by Luis, and the next morning pays the contact 25, dollars for the Volkswagen Beetle.

Not knowing that Jax and the babies were with her, he desperately tries to stop the hit, but is unsuccessful and Tara has her left hand broken during a fight. Clay meets Romeo and gets a refund, with Romeo taking the matter on his hands personally, and Clay reluctantly agrees that Tara is best dead.

Gemma confronts Clay about the hit and a violent fight ensues between the two, with Clay getting injured but severely beating Gemma's face. In the episode Burnt and Purged Away , Opie later finds out that Clay was behind the death of Piney and seeks out revenge ending the episode by shooting Clay twice in the chest. In " To Be, Act 1 ", Clay survives the shooting as he is rushed to the hospital and is in critical condition and goes into surgery, Clay is then hooked up to an intensive care unit after coming out of surgery, Gemma then reveals the truth to Jax except her involvement in how John Teller really died, and he finds out that Clay had Teller killed and that he killed Piney and he also finds out that Clay put out a hit on Tara.

After Jax reads the letter he vows to kill Clay. Tara then gives him a syringe full of blood thinner to inject into Clay's I. The episode ends with Clay still in the hospital and still in intensive care.

He holds a knife to Clay's throat and tells him he read the letters and he knows he put the hit on Tara. Jax does not kill Clay, because he needs him alive for the I. Clay is about to tell Jax something but Jax tells Clay he is done telling him anything. Jax then tells Clay that he Clay is stepping down as President. He'll be allowed to sit at the table and get a vote, but that's all. Jax tells Clay to keep the Irish happy and to stay out of his way or he will show the club the letters and let Opie tell everyone he killed Piney.

Jax also warns him to stay away from Tara and Gemma. He then cuts the President's patch off of Clay's cut. Clay suggests Jax kill him, but he tells him he is already dead and spits in his face.

Clay is shown to have gotten out of the hospital, but requires an oxygen tank due to his lung injury.

He is shown trying to make amends with Gemma, but she coldly brushes him off. He later reveals to the club that he murdered Piney, but states that Piney was drunk and tried to kill him first, and Opie found out, and shot him.

The club's rules due to having him killed a member means they must vote on kicking him out. When Jax questions him on his motives for telling the club, he denies any. His arthritis is shown to have reached the point to when he can't ride his bike at all.

He later goes to his and Gemma's burglarized house, where he expresses concern over his safe being stolen. He then visits Opie, and convinces him not to walk away from the club because of him, seeing as though he's "half dead already". He later finds out where Gemma has been going from Juice. He goes to the brothel and confronts Nero , the owner, and Gemma's new suitor.

He then makes it seem like he had sex with a young prostitute to anger Gemma, however it was later revealed that Clay only asked her to rub his neck. She then attacks the girl, causing her to leave.

When Nero's operation is later shut down, and he and Gemma are arrested, it's likely Clay was behind it. The next episode, " Small World ", shows Clay having recovered to the point of no longer needing his oxygen tank, though he continues to wear it either for sympathy or to keep people off guard. He later helps Gemma take care of a dead body Nero's half sister Carla , and the two seem to be on better terms.

At the end of the episode, he confronts the three Nomads for responsible for the Charming burglaries, and the death of Sheriff Roosevelt's wife Rita. He punches one in the face exclaiming "Idiots! You weren't supposed to kill her! The next episode, Toad's Wild Ride , reveals the Nomads GoGo, Greg and Frankie made a deal with Clay to get back at the head of the table in exchange for Clay's share of the guns and cocaine money. The break-ins were Clay's way of turning Charming against Jax.

When Unser who has been investigating the break-ins comes close to discovering the truth, GoGo and Greg meet with Clay to discuss killing him, when Frankie goes underground. Clay meets with Unser in his trailer to talk about the friendship between them. Jax and the rest of the club find out about their attack on Unser, and Jax privately accuses Clay of using the Nomads to undermine his leadership.

Clay states that Damon Pope is the one who hired the Nomads. In " Ablation ", Clay visits Gemma, Abel, and Thomas in the hospital after a marijuana induced car crash. He tells Jax that a truck ran her off the road to protect her. When Jax learns about the lie, he tells Clay why he lied, and that Gemma is dead to his family, and that he wants to take care of her. In " Andare Pescare ", the club is shown discovering that Frankie is hiding with a Mafia family, paying them money stolen from Nero.

They take a unanimous vote after extracting the information they need. When Clay leans from Jimmy Cacuzza the location of the Mafia safehouse in which Frankie is hiding, Clay and Juice go there to kill him to keep him from outing Clay Juice acting under the pretense scouting it out , when Frankie barricades himself in the house and shoots at the two.

Clay drives the van into the tank, blowing up the house. Just as Clay is about to kill Frankie, Jax and the others show up, having seen the explosion. However, Frankie is quickly gunned down by the enraged Mafia Don for killing one of his men before he can tell them anything he wants to tell them. Bobby later asks Clay if there's anything he wants to tell him implying he also knows about his dealings with the Nomads. When Clay claims his conscience is clear, Bobby states "I hope you're as smart as you think you are, cause I'm sick of burning friends".

The episode ends with Gemma helping Clay with his cortisone shots. Romeo suggests getting rid of Jax, and putting Clay back at the head of the table. Clay does not agree to the deal, to which Romeo states, "Yes you will".

Later, Gemma and Clay draw closer at Clay's place, where Gemma insists they return home. They are lasting seen sitting on their bed, where Clay confesses he can't bear losing her again. Gemma kisses him passionately, and they sink into bed. He is shown, for unknowns reasons, trying to save Jax from Romeo, and warns him to work with the Cartel long enough to make the club legitimate and leave. He refuses stating "I'm done bowing down to greedy men who have nothing to believe in".

When Jax reveals a new deal to the Club, which would allow the Mayans and the Triads to take over mulling the cocaine and selling big guns respectively , Clay votes yes along with everyone else. He is later shown moving legal documents given to him by the Nomads to another location, to protect himself from the Club finding out the important evidence of his betrayal.

Sons of Anarchy was very well received by critics and viewers from the beginning, who praised its tone, the performances of the main cast, and its exploration of themes like racism and corruption. Last but definitely not least is Piney, who never really trusted Clay and only stayed in the club to keep an eye on him once he was named the new President. While fans still debate whether Clay was a better President than Jax or not, truth is that he was a dangerous man who never hesitated in killing those closest to him, though that also made him one of the most memorable characters in Sons of Anarchy.

After the club was forced to choose a member to be killed in prison, Opie — having already lost his wife and father — volunteered to take one for the team. Jax could only look on helplessly as his best friend was clubbed to death with a pipe to the head.

After the club voted unanimously to kill its former president, Clay was gunned down at close range by Jax, the man he raised as a son. Bobby Munson Mark Boone, Jr.