Summer Bay is no stranger to heartbreak, but the emotional storm about to crash down on Tane Parata and Harper Matheson could leave devastation that lingers for years.

What began as a delicate attempt at co-parenting their baby son Archie is about to fracture beyond repair, pushing two already-wounded people into

a bitter fight neither of them truly wants — yet neither can avoid.

For weeks, tensions have simmered beneath the surface. Tane and Harper have tried to present a united front, convincing themselves that love for their child would be enough to bridge the cracks left by mistrust, fear, and old trauma. But in true Home and Away fashion, the past has a way of returning at exactly the wrong moment — and when it does, it rarely asks permission.

The breaking point arrives when Tane discovers Harper has secretly reopened the door to the one person he believes should be kept as far from Archie as possible: her estranged mother. For Harper, the reunion is complicated and emotional, driven by a longing for reconciliation and a belief that people can change. For Tane, it is a flashing red warning siren. He sees risk, instability, and the terrifying possibility that history could repeat itself.

To Tane, Archie’s safety is not negotiable.

What follows is less a disagreement and more an explosion.

Blinded by panic and anger, Tane makes a choice that will alter everything. Acting on instinct rather than reason, he takes Archie and disappears without telling Harper where they are going. In that moment, he believes he is protecting his son. But from Harper’s perspective, the man she trusted has just become the source of her worst nightmare.

Her calls go unanswered. Her messages are ignored. Minutes stretch into agony. Every terrible possibility races through her mind. By the time Tane finally returns, remorseful and aware he has crossed a line, the damage is already irreversible.

Trust, once cracked, is hard to repair. Sometimes, it can’t be repaired at all.

Harper is left shaken to her core. Whatever understanding existed between them evaporates, replaced by fear. If Tane could take Archie once, what would stop him from doing it again? How can she share parenting with someone who, in a moment of emotional overload, can simply remove their child from her life?

So Harper does the unthinkable.

She decides to bring in lawyers.

For Tane, the word alone feels like betrayal. The idea that strangers in suits will now sit in judgment over his ability to father his own son is humiliating and enraging. He insists they can fix this privately, that they are better than contracts and courtrooms. But Harper is past reassurances. She wants protection, structure, guarantees.

Next week’s episodes will see the conflict escalate from painful to catastrophic.

Harper stands firm. Every arrangement regarding Archie, she says, must now be agreed upon in advance — documented, formal, undeniable. No surprises. No emotional decisions. No more moments where she is left helpless and terrified.

Tane fights back with everything he has. He argues that Archie is not a legal case but their child. He pleads for common sense, for compassion, for another chance. Yet every conversation circles back to the same impasse: Harper’s determination to rebuild a relationship between Archie and her mother, and Tane’s absolute refusal to allow it.

Neither is wrong. Neither is fully right.

And that’s what makes it tragic.

Friends in the Bay begin to feel the ripple effects. Loved ones are forced into impossible positions, offering support while watching two people they care about hurt each other more deeply with every passing hour. What started as a family disagreement is rapidly becoming a war — one where victory for either side may still feel like defeat.

Then comes the moment that changes the temperature entirely.

In a confrontation charged with exhaustion and heartbreak, Harper delivers a blow Tane never sees coming. She announces that she and Archie are leaving. Moving out. Creating distance. From now on, if Tane wants answers or access, he can speak to her solicitor.

The finality in her voice is unmistakable.

For Tane, the world seems to tilt. This is not just about pride or anger anymore. It is about the creeping, suffocating fear that he is watching his son slip away piece by piece, decision by decision, signature by signature.

And perhaps the most painful part? Somewhere beneath the fury, he understands why Harper feels she has to do it.

Home and Away has always thrived on emotional realism wrapped in high drama, and this storyline cuts close to the bone. It asks difficult questions about protection, forgiveness, and whether love is always enough when fear takes hold.

As the custody battle begins, one thing is heartbreakingly clear: there are no easy wins ahead.

Only consequences.

Whether Tane and Harper can find their way back from this brink — or whether Archie will grow up in the shadow of a conflict neither parent ever intended — remains to be seen. But as Summer Bay braces for impact, viewers should prepare themselves.

Because this fight is only just beginning.