A shockwave hits Home and Away as Harper’s attempt to reconnect with her birth family sends her entire world spiraling—especially for Tane, who feels more threatened than ever. While Harper believes she’s finally ready to dig into her painful past, Tane is dealing with an entirely different fear: that her search will place their son Archie in the path of danger.

Harper and her sister Dana grew up in a household shaped by addiction. Both parents battled substance abuse, leaving the sisters to fend for themselves long before they were old enough. They escaped as soon as they could, cut all contact, and never looked back. Over ten years passed without a single visit, call, or glimpse of their troubled mother or father.

But everything shifts after Harper shares a heartfelt moment with Alf, who reveals how little he sees of his grandchildren. The conversation stirs something deep within her—a desire for Archie to experience at least one grandparent, even if that means digging up ghosts she’d long buried. In the final UK episode of the year, Harper quietly asks Cash to run her parents’ names through the police database. Cash hesitates, terrified of risking his job, but ultimately gives in and searches for their records.

When the show returns in 2026, Cash delivers the truth: Harper’s father, Warrick, passed away years earlier. Her mother, Carrie, however, is alive—and surprisingly, hasn’t had any criminal trouble in recent years. Encouraged, Harper decides to reach out, despite Dana’s intense objections. Even when Carrie replies to Harper’s text with a frosty, “What do you want?” Harper refuses to give up, craving closure and hoping her mother might have changed.

Determined, she leaves Summer Bay for her first meeting with her mother in more than a decade. When Harper returns, she insists that Carrie seems sober and different from the woman who abandoned them. Dana doesn’t believe a word of it, reminding her sister that recovery takes time and that childhood trauma doesn’t simply disappear.

The situation worsens when Tane comes home to overhear the sisters arguing. Before Harper can explain, Dana blurts out the truth—that Harper met with Carrie behind his back. Tane is furious. The idea of exposing Archie to someone with such an unpredictable history is out of the question for him. He refuses to let Harper test her mother’s stability using their son. The trust between them fractures instantly.

After speaking with Cash and gathering her resolve, Harper returns home hoping for a calm conversation—only to walk into an empty house. Tane and Archie are gone. On the table, a cold handwritten note waits for her: “I’ve taken Archie. He’ll be safe with me.”

Panic consumes Harper. Although Tane eventually brings Archie back unharmed, the incident shakes her. She realizes that without a legal agreement, their co-parenting relationship could collapse at any moment. With her trust in Tane shattered, she reaches out to a solicitor to discuss securing legal custody—setting the stage for a fierce battle.

Soon after, the situation becomes even more complicated. Carrie arrives in Summer Bay unannounced, showing up at Harper’s motel room—where Harper is now staying after leaving Tane’s home. Dana refuses to speak to their mother when they cross paths at the surf club, while Harper promises both Dana and Tane that she will not leave Archie alone with Carrie under any circumstances. Still, the tension is undeniable. Carrie’s presence immediately disrupts every fragile balance Harper has tried to maintain.

Exactly what Carrie wants remains unclear. Her arrival came just days before the show wrapped for the year in Australia, leaving viewers with more questions than answers. But one thing feels certain: her rocky relationship with Tane will ignite plenty of dramatic clashes in 2026.

Fans reacted instantly to the storyline. Social media erupted after the scene where Tane walked out with Archie, leaving Harper to discover the chilling note. Many viewers sympathized with Harper’s desire to explore her roots and offer Archie a chance to know his grandmother. Others defended Tane, arguing he acted to protect Archie from a woman who had once inflicted deep wounds on Harper and Dana. The debate became so heated that hashtags like #TeamHarper and #TeamTane split the fandom in half.

Producers soon teased that Carrie will be one of 2026’s defining characters. They revealed that Carrie isn’t returning just to apologize—she’s carrying secrets that could alter everything Harper and Dana believe about their past. She may know something shocking about their father or may even have hidden motives for approaching Harper and Archie.

Meanwhile, Tane and Harper’s relationship will face its darkest phase yet, with the custody battle growing more ruthless than expected. Dana, too, won’t remain a bystander; she’s destined to uncover something about Carrie that pulls her into the center of the chaos.

Above all, the producers emphasize that Archie will be the heart of the entire 2026 season. Every conflict, every twist, and every character’s decision will revolve around his safety—forcing viewers to ask: Can love alone hold a fractured family together?