Fans of the popular Sons of Anarchy witnessed the tragic death of another character during the finale for season 6. Tara’s decision not to participate in the witness protection plan ultimately influenced the events that led to her untimely death. Through a series of tragic events, Tara’s mother-in-law (who is played by Katey Sagal) attempts to fulfill a protective motherly role when she kills Tara after incorrectly assuming that her daughter-in-law had betrayed her son, Jax.

Maggie Siff spoke with TV Guide about the process of preparing for the death of her character. “I had a lot of time to mentally prepare and to think about it and ponder what it meant for me and my life. But Tara’s always been somewhat of a tragic character. In most of her efforts to change her life or to get them to leave Charming and create a safe environment for her children, she’s mostly failed time and time again. So, the feeling of being kind of heartbroken for the character is familiar to me. There’s something almost imponderable about imagining your own death. It’s a very strange and surreal thing to contemplate. It didn’t feel real for a long time, but it got very emotional when it was supposed to.”

Creator Kurt Sutter explained the reason why characters undergo such heartbreak, and why fans are gripped by the story. “The show is an epic tragedy and a tragic love story,” Sutter said.

we pitched the season 6 big arcs to FX yesterday. everyone is excited, happy… and slightly terrified. it's good to have family.

— kurt sutter (@sutterink) March 12, 2013

Maggie Siff recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly about her initial reaction to the script for this season. “My eyes sort of rolled back into my head. My first concern as an actor was how to make it believable, that she [Tara] would do this and go to these lengths. If you want to see the full bloom of Tara living in this world, it’s that she becomes Gemma [her mother-in-law] and this is the most Gemma-like she’s ever been and the most Gemma-like she’s ever behaved in terms of how intricate and how manipulative and how thought through it is. Ultimately, the difference is that she’s doing it for the good of her children, which I think is an important distinction.”

While fans will miss seeing the talented actress, 39-year-old Siff announced in October that she is expecting her first child. Siff explained during an interview with Us Weekly, “I haven’t really announced [it] yet. I’m past the nausea so I’m feeling a lot better, a lot more energetic. We just finished shooting the season, which is good.”

[Image Via Wikimedia Commons and Courtesy of Joella Marano]