Sons of Anarchy’ season 6 roars out its eleventh episode of the year, “Aon Rus Persanta,” as Jax puts into play his ultimate plans for both the Irish and Clay's escape from prison, while Tara faces a difficult choice posed by DA Patterson (CCH Pounder).

Last week’s ‘Sons of Anarchy’ episode “Huang Wu” saw Jax coming to grips with Tara’s betrayal amid a business complication between the Irish, Italian and Chinese, while Tara made one last desperate play to get her children out of harm’s way, so how does “Aon Rud Persanta” keep the season rolling?  Will ‘Sons of Anarchy’ season 6 finally mark the end for SAMCRO?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘Sons of Anarchy’ season 6 episode 11, “Aon Rud Persanta!”

West coasters and newbies alike, you are hereby warned of major spoilers for 'Sons of Anarchy' season 6, and the series at large.

Tara wakes up to find her children still in the house, though Rat reveals that Jax has forbidden the boys from being taken to daycare at the hospital. Afterward, Tara meets with her new lawyer to shore up the divorce agreement, though the terms dictate that a divorce keeping the children out of Jax’s hands will likely ruin her defense her for Pemma Toric’s murder. Elsewhere, Jax meets with Patterson and looks over the immunity agreements, providing a location to arrest Gaalan with the shipment of guns.

Later, Jax and the others meet with Connor to look over the plans and trucks for Clay’s prison convoy rescue, while guards bring Clay himself to his transport, and Jax tasks two other members with a diversionary van to drive to Patterson’s attempted bust on the Irish. Back at Teller-Morrow, Unser questions Gemma if she’s up to the task of raising the boys if Tara goes to jail, or if Jax sends her away, reminding Gemma that he only sticks with their degrading club lifestyle out of his unrequited love for her.

Out on the road before the rescue, Jax questions Juice’s mental state, to which Juice responds that he’s been reckless lately in an attempt to commit more to the group. Connor’s van radios in with the signal, sending Tig and Bobby to run Clay’s police escort off the road. Jax himself stops the prisoner transport, liberating Clay from the hold, before the group begins their getaway. In the process, a standing guard manages to shoot Bobby in the shoulder, for which Juice runs the guard over. Back at the docks, Patterson and Sheriff Roosevelt realize they’ve been duped into leaving Clay’s transport unguarded.

Tara arrives at Gemma’s for the boys, before the call comes in that Jax needs Tara to save Bobby from his injuries. Meanwhile, Jax and the crew arrive to the hangar to greet Gaalan and his men, before Jax coldly shoots the Irishman dead, while the others shoot his guards. Jax tells a stunned Clay that they held a vote deciding it needed to happen, just before Gemma, Tara and Nero arrive. Clay realizes Jax’s plan to pretend Gaalan and Clay killed one another in a dispute over their deal, before saying his goodbyes to Gemma. Clay dutifully walks into the hangar office with the other bodies, compliantly offering himself up, and Gemma watches in stunned horror as Jax shoots Clay dead.

In the aftermath, Jax makes his peace with both Gemma and Nero, assuring the latter that the murder represents the last of their old, illegal business. Gemma, Nero and Tara head toward the hospital for supplies to patch up Bobby, while Jax and the others anticipate Connor’s arrival. On the road, Tara explains to Nero that Clay had killed both Piney and John Teller, and ordered the hit that damaged her hand, before taking a call that Patterson wishes to meet in her office.

Connor arrives to the hangar, seeing the bloody scene staged to look like Clay and Gaalan killed one another, as Jax explains that he’ll need to tell the Irish Kings what happened. With Clay gone, the Irish will have no choice but to run guns through August Marks, lest the Chinese swoop in and dominate the market. Connor laments that Jax played him, but reluctantly agrees to call Belfast with their cover story, and allow Jax to leave the bodies with a shipment of KG-9s. Meanwhile, Tara arrives to the hospital, and Gemma renews her commitment to Nero by suggesting they get married, though Nero grimaces at the fate of her previous husbands.

Tara finds Roosevelt and Patterson waiting in her office, as Patterson puts forth that the earlier “complications” that prevented her from accepting Tara’s offer to testify against the club have abated. Tara suggests that a bullet from Bobby’s shoulder would provide enough evidence to turn RICO back on the club, earning witness protection for her and her children in the process, to which Patterson agrees. Once Tara leaves the office however, Patterson learns from an anonymous tip that the bodies of Clay and Gaalan have been found at a hangar with a shipment of KG-9’s. Roosevelt muses that Jax kept his promise to Patterson all along, though she retorts that dead bodies had never been part of the deal.

Tara successfully manages to remove the bullet from Bobby, stabilizing him. Afterward, Jax thanks Tara for her help, admitting that he understands why she crafted her elaborate deception for getting their children away, apologizing for driving her to it. Once alone, Tara contemplates the bloody bullet still in her possession.

OUR REVIEW:

Yeah. So...that happened. We can't say as we're entirely surprised, given Clay's ominous words to Gemma last week, or Clay's repeated, bordering-on-absurd escapes from the reaper over the years, but especially in light of FX's rare decision to withhold a screener of tonight's installment until hours before airing. Suffice to say, the writing was on the wall for either Clay or Tara, and only one of them would be in the line of fire for a dangerous prison transport, 11 episodes into the season.

Shock value not withstanding, we're almost at a loss to consider Clay's ultimate end, given that series creator Kurt Sutter deliberately kept the character alive to at least earn some sense of redemption and peace over the course of the season, far removed from any of Jax's justifiable rage about his father. The name of the game for 'Sons of Anarchy' season 6 had arguably been a desensitization of violence, and the effect on all involved, but the story simply hasn't needed Clay for some time now. Through his death, we have at least a temporary peace with the Irish (trigger-happy Connor wasn't too thrilled), but little fanfare, or registered reaction from any of the characters we're still invested in.

So we'll say an expected goodbye to Ron Perlman's presence on the series as Clay Morrow, but not one that carries with it the shock of grief. Clay earned his brief bit of peace, but had done far too much in the grander scale to lament his loss. Jax barely bat an eye. Gemma shed her tears, wishing not to feel as much sentiment as she had. We'll have fewer complaints about Sutter's last-minute reprieves. We'll move on.

Going forward, we'll surely have Tyne's vengeance to look forward to, as well as the wrath of the Chinese that Jax spurned across his multi-level play, while Tara seemed a bit conflicted about her final opportunity to take the boys and run. Much as we were surprised by Jax's muted reaction to Tara's plots, so too were we impressed that the character could gain as much clarity to own up to his role in pushing her to it. There's still a faint spark of hope that the relationship won't end in such bitter blood, though with two more episodes to go, and Clay out of the picture, it does seem as if the hardest axe has yet to fall.

Certainly, we'll have more to process in the coming days, though we have little fault with "Aon Rud Persanta" for crafting a dignified, and elaborate end for such a pivotal character. The only difficulty in execution lies with its overdue turn, and a struggle to reconcile what effect Clay's end can have on the immediate story at hand. Hey, remember when Donal Logue was crazy? It's been a fun season.

What say you? Did you get your fill of road-rashing ‘Sons of Anarchy’ action?  What did you think about the big shockers of tonight’s “Aon Rud Persanta”? Join us next week for another all-new ‘Sons of Anarchy’ recap of “You Are My Sunshine,” and stay tuned as we bring you additional coverage on tonight’s shocking developments with series creator Kurt Sutter!

More From ScreenCrush