Summer Bay is set for one of its most emotionally explosive weeks in recent memory, as Home and Away gears up to deliver a storyline that will leave viewers floored. In a dramatic twist no one saw coming, Harper Matheson is left utterly heartbroken when Tane Parata disappears with baby Archie — without warning, without explanation, and without a single word to her.

The shock departure unfolds during what was supposed to be a quiet, hopeful moment in Harper and Tane’s increasingly complicated co-parenting relationship. After weeks of tension, gentle progress, and small steps toward trust, Harper finally believed the storm clouds had begun to clear. But those hopes are shattered the moment she rushes home to find the house silent, Archie’s room empty, and Tane nowhere to be seen.

Insiders describe the scenes as “raw, devastating, and unmissable,” with Harper spiralling from confusion to panic as the truth sinks in: Tane has taken Archie and vanished.

According to early teasers, Harper’s first instinct is overwhelmingly emotional. She desperately tries calling Tane, only to be met with the cold sting of unanswered rings. It isn’t long before she’s pounding on neighbours’ doors, pleading for any sign of where the pair might have gone. Her fear becomes palpable as she realises Tane didn’t just step out for a walk — he has made a deliberate and heartbreaking decision.

Meanwhile, viewers will see Tane in a very different emotional space. Though he believes he’s acting for Archie’s safety, the decision clearly weighs heavily on him. Sources hint at a tortured internal struggle as he drives away from Summer Bay, casting worried glances at the sleeping infant in the back seat. The audience is left torn between heartbreak for Harper and concern for the man who feels he has run out of options.

Back in the Bay, Harper’s devastation takes centre stage. At one point she collapses in tears in Irene’s kitchen, convinced she’s failed Archie and terrified that Tane’s growing paranoia has pushed him to extremes. Friends rally around her, but nothing can ease the crushing realisation that the man she’d begun to trust has betrayed her in the most painful way imaginable.

Fans can expect a major hunt for Tane, with police involvement escalating as the hours tick by. As the storyline unfolds, whispers around the Bay suggest that Tane’s sudden flight may be tied to deeper fears and long-buried secrets — tensions that have been simmering beneath the surface since Archie entered their lives.

Producers tease that the fallout will “change Harper and Tane forever,” with emotional confrontations, shocking revelations, and a desperate race to bring Archie home safely. Early reactions from cast insiders call the storyline “gut-wrenching” and “one of the show’s most emotionally charged arcs of the year.”

One thing is certain: the search for Tane and Archie will push Summer Bay to its limit — and Harper’s heartbreak will shake the community like never before.