Top 10 'Sons of Anarchy' disturbing deaths

The seventh and final season of Sons of Anarchy begins on Tuesday and we are counting down the top ten most disturbing deaths of the series so far.

Image courtesy of Peter West/ACE Pictures

Sons of Anarchy premiered in 2008 and since then it has become one of the most popular cable television shows.

It’s clear by now that the grim reaper follows the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club wherever they go and countless characters throughout the show’s six seasons so far have met “Mr. Mayhem.”

As the main character and heart of the story, Jax Teller, played by Charlie Hunnam has struggled throughout the series to spread his love and loyalty between his club and his family. Jax wants a different life for his children, one that doesn't echo the culture of violence that Jax himself witnessed growing up in the motorcycle club. How much does Jax have to sacrifice to free his club from the violent partnerships that have been forged throughout the years?

This countdown talks about ten of the most gruesome deaths that lingered in our minds days after we witnessed them and I highly recommend re-watching each of the listed episodes before the seventh season.

The Sons of Anarchy final season debuts September 9 and we will finally learn the fate of our favorite motorcycle club and if Jax Teller can break the cycle of violence and find peace for himself and his children.

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10. Kozik-death by landmine

This death takes place in Season 4, Episode 11, "Call of Duty."

Herman Kozik first appeared in Season 2 of Sons of Anarchy and although initially it was not clear if he could be trusted, Kozik quickly found a spot in our hearts. In "Call of Duty," the club tries to retaliate against the cartel for an attempted hit on Jax Teller’s wife, Tara.

As the club crosses a field to ambush the cartel, Clay Morrow hears a click and instantly is reminded of his time served in the military. Clay knows this click can only mean one thing, land mines.

Kozik hears a click beneath him and knows his time has come as he says, “Aw, you got to be sh**ing me…” The Sons helplessly watch as Kozik is blown to pieces and his severed arm lands right near Juice.

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9. Kia Ghanezi-death by drowning in urine

This death takes place in Season 6, Episode 1, "Straw."

Opie’s widow, Lyla, comes to the club for help after she had been physically tortured by a porn studio. The Sons arrive in Stockton to confront and punish the Ghanezi brothers at their studio for what they did to Lyla, locking one of the brothers inside a cage.

After the club makes a deal with some crooked cops in Stockton to shutdown the Ghanezi brothers’ studio, Jax tells Tig to let the brother outside of the cage. Kia Ghanezi is infuriated and stupidly insults Tig, telling him that one day Tig will watch his daughter appear in one of their movies.

Ghanezi had no idea that he was pressing on such a sore subject since Tig’s daughter had recently been burned alive by the hands of Damon Pope. Tig loses control and instead of letting Ghanezi walk free to keep the peace, Tig notices a bathtub full of urine close by which had undoubtedly and disgustingly been used by the Ghanezi brothers to film a scene. Tig forces Ghanezi’s head into the tub and drowns him in a bathtub full of urine.

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8. Prison guard-death by snow globe

This death takes place in Season 5, Episode 6, "Small World."

Toward the beginning of the fifth season, Opie was killed as a result of Damon Pope's revenge while some of the Sons were in prison. Jax told the prison guard that helped set up Opie’s death that as soon as he is released from prison, he plans on killing him.

Jax discovers where the prison guard lives and Jax and the Sons break into the guard’s house and tie him up. The guard pleads for his life promising the club that he has connections in prison and can help them, but Jax is not in the mood to strike a deal after remembering how his best friend was murdered.

Jax picks up a “Small World” musical snow globe in the guard’s house and repeatedly strikes him until he dies as the calming tune plays from the snow globe.

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7. Phil and V-Lin-death by dismemberment

These deaths take place in Season 6, Episode 4, "Wolfsangel."

Jax Teller has been trying to move the club out of guns for quite some time and decided to tell his Irish gun running partner, Galen, that enough was enough and that the Sons of Anarchy were moving out of the gun business. Jax tells Galen to stay away and says “hands off off my club.” Maybe Jax should have thought twice about what he said considering Galen has a twisted sense of humor.

Big guy Sons of Anarchy member Phil was guarding the club’s warehouse with prospect V-Lin when Galen and his crew arrive and tell Phil to call Jax. Once Jax learns that Galen’s crew is at the warehouse, he knows that trouble isn’t far away. As soon as Phil hangs up the phone, Galen shoots him and V-Lin in the head.

By the time Jax and the rest of the club arrive at the warehouse, they find Phil and V-Lin's fully dismembered corpses against a wall and two pairs of severed hands on top of two Sons of Anarchy jackets, Galen’s ironic revenge for Jax’s comment from earlier about "hands off."

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6. Carny rapist-death by castration

This death takes place in Season 1, Episode 3, "Fun Town."

This happened early on in the series and gave us a further glimpse into the type of outlaw justice that the Sons of Anarchy serve.

The carnival makes its way into the small town of Charming and coincidentally that same night, the young daughter of a prominent Charming man, Elliott Oswald, is raped.
The Sons know that no one in Charming could commit such a disturbing act on a child and soon discover that the rapist was one of the traveling carnival workers.

Once the Sons capture the guilty carnival worker, they give Oswald a chance for vengeance by castrating the rapist. Oswald finds that he just can’t go through with it no matter how angry he is. Clay castrates the rapist himself and leaves him to bleed to death.

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5. Russian man-death by flesh eating ants

This death takes place in Season 4, Episode 3, "Dorylus."

Club members Clay and Bobby visit the Wahewa tribe near Charming to talk about how much the club pays the Wahewa for supplying gun ammo. The leader of the Wahewa tribe is upset with Clay for not paying them a more appropriate amount considering the Son’s new booming business ventures with the cartel.

The leader takes Clay and Bobby out on the reservation to see what the Wahewa tribe does to those who dishonor them. Sutter always chooses a meaningful title for each episode and in this case, dorylus refers to a group of flesh eating ants.

After a man angers the Wahewa tribe, they bury him in the ground up to his chest and leave him to be slowly and painfully eaten alive by flesh eating ants.

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4. Tara-death by carving fork

This death takes place in Season 6, Episode 13, "A Mother's Work."

Throughout the sixth season, Jax’s wife, Tara, begins to think that Jax will never abandon his club and she fears for the safety of her children. Tara begins to put into motion a plan where she can divorce Jax and move to another city with her children away from all of the danger that follows the Sons of Anarchy.

Jax’s mother, Gemma, learns that Jax is going to be arrested for being a gun supplier and that Tara might be the one responsible for turning Jax in.

Drunk and confused, Gemma races to Tara’s house and immediately begins a brawl with Tara. Gemma gains the upper hand and dunks Tara’s head into a filled kitchen sink, drowning her. Feeling around nearby, Gemma finds a carving fork and tragically stabs Tara in the head. This death will definitely be a major story-line in season seven as Jax learns the truth of how Tara was killed.

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3. Opie-death by pipe

This death takes place in Season 5, Episode 3, "Laying Pipe."

Jax, Opie, Tig, and Chibs are arrested for previous charges as an act of vengeance by Damon Pope. Once inside prison, Jax is able to find some limited protection from Pope’s prison crew. Eventually, Pope himself meets Jax face to face inside a prison office where Pope delivers his demands.

Pope and Jax strike a deal but part of the agreement is that only three Sons will leave the prison alive meaning that Jax would have to choose if Opie, Tig, or Chibs would be the one to be sacrificed. Jax reveals the details of his deal with Pope to his best friend, Opie. When the moment of truth comes and the prison guard forces Jax to choose who is going to die, Jax tries to choose himself only to be stopped by Opie who finally finds a way out from the misery he has lived in after losing his wife and father.

The guards force Opie into the next room four of Pope’s prison members are waiting as the rest of the Sons watch helplessly. Opie puts up a good fight but is overpowered by the other four members who begin beating Opie to death as Opie falls to his knees facing the rest of the Sons in the next room. One member picks up a lead pipe and brutally smashes the back of Opie’s head, killing him.

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2. Pamela Toric-death by crucifix

This death takes place in Season 5, Episode 10, "Crucifixed."

While in prison, Sons of Anarchy member Otto Delaney, played by the disturbingly talented writer of the show Kurt Sutter, ratted out the club after believing that he had been betrayed by the Sons of Anarchy. Jax sends his wife Tara to the prison to pose as a volunteer doctor in an attempt to try and convince Otto to take back his statements that would ultimately convict and end the Sons of Anarchy.

Tara and Otto share some intimate moments and she learns how broken of a man he is. Otto promises Tara that he will take back his statement if she brings him a crucifix that belonged to his deceased wife so that he can pray one last time.
Tara brings the crucifix to Otto and it seems that Otto is finally at peace. That peace is unfortunately short lasting as Otto takes the crucifix and uses it to gruesomely stab a prison nurse in the neck multiple times as he symbolically tells Tara, “Sons live, Redwood bleeds.”

By killing the nurse, Otto lived up to his promise since his statements convicting the Sons can no longer be used, however this opens up a brand new problem considering Tara might be found guilty of bringing Otto the crucifix that he used to murder the nurse.

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1. Dawn Trager-death by fire

This death takes place in Season 5, Episode 1, "Sovereign."

Season 4 ended in a series of unfortunate events as Sons of Anarchy member Tig seeks vengeance against a gang who he believes shot and injured Clay. Tig finds the gang leader and his crew eating at a café and drives his SUV full speed at them. The gang leader moves out of the way just in time, but unfortunately, the gang leader’s girlfriend is run over and killed.

The gang leader’s girlfriend happened to be the daughter of a powerful kingpin named Damon Pope, who wants revenge on the Sons of Anarchy, especially Tig. Pope tricks Tig to meet at an industrial yard. Tig is handcuffed and looks into a ditch where he sees his daughter doused in gasoline. Pope tells Tig that he does not plan on killing Tig until Tig has suffered in the same way that Pope has and decides to very much in an eye for an eye biblical fashion, kill Tig’s daughter in a slow and painful way.

This death takes the number one spot as many would agree that never has there been anything quite as horrifying as watching Tig stare helplessly at his daughter as she is burned alive.

The Sons of Anarchy have shown us some horrifying ways to be killed and one can only wonder what writer Kurt Sutter has in store for us in the final season.

It’s time to go on one last ride with the Sons of Anarchy as the final season begins on September 9 on FX.

Image via Facebook from Sons of Anarchy