We did have a clue to the downfall of these characters before the season started, actually. Prior to the premiere, there was a stylized teaser/trailer for the new season, showing Jax (and possibly some other club members, can't remember) riding along on their bikes. Behind them was this massive wall with images of Gemma, Clay and Tara projected on it. One by one, as Jax rode past each face, that portion of the wall exploded into rubble, in that order. My wife and I both thought - well, this is it! It's the penultimate season and people are going to start dropping like flies. The surprise was Tara's face exploding at the end. As the season progressed, we thought it might have been foreshadowing to a revenge killing over divorcing Jax and taking the kids. Glad to eventually discover that it wasn't that simple - then again, what in the Sutterverse ever is? It was well written and, even though we knew something bad was going to happen to Tara, it was good that it was done in an unpredictable, if gruesome, way. Edit: Here it is - entitled "Mayhem": [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGkJTJn5qvM[/yt]
Well, then according to that theory, Gemma's up next. Which I don't see happening till at least the final episodes because she's one of the strongest characters on the show.
Yep. Gemma gets killed (or kills herself) and Jax takes the kids and leaves the club for good... for their protection. I'm kind of looking forward to seeing how Bobby runs the charter, for however long/short it'll last.