Kurt Sutter
I knew fairly early on that Tara would die before the final season — probably as early as Season 2. I didn’t quite now exactly how it was going to happen in terms of story, but in terms of a mythology mile-mark, [I knew] that’s when it would happen.
He kept saying he wanted to take the last remaining "moral compass" Jax had leading into the final season, I'd say that was achieved.