Jake Wood’s latest stint on EastEnders may have been brief after Max Branning left East London once again, though we know the iconic character is due to return to Albert Square very soon.

It was announced in July that Wood would reprise his role on the BBC soap after an absence of four years, with the figure returning to screens last month as he became entangled with Zoe Slater.

Earlier this week, Max surprised patrons of The Queen Vic as he arrived at Lauren and Peter’s wedding, with his appearance stunning his daughter. While she was frosty towards him, his son Oscar was more welcoming.

Max also had to contend with former flame Stacey Slater, who was left heartbroken after seeing him share a kiss with her cousin, Zoe. Thursday’s (2 October) episode began in the aftermath of the kiss, with Stacey not best pleased.

Zoe explained that she had been seeing Max for a while, with Stacey soon hitting Zoe after she mentioned the late Martin. Max also got an earful from Kat and Lauren, with the latter remarking that he had ruined her wedding day.

After being rejected by Stacey and then not-so-gently letting Zoe down, Max attempted to make amends with Lauren, though she chastised him for pining over Stacey instead of addressing matters closer to home.

“I’ve been on my own a long time since I left here,” he reasoned. “I’ve been searching for something, I don’t know what. Seeing Stacey again, it brought it all back to me – what it felt like to be happy.”

Shortly after running through a litany of things which made father and daughter similar, Max stated that Peter would never be enough for her. Naturally, this offended Lauren, and she ordered him to leave.

Despite Oscar’s wishes for him to stay, Max decided to leave Walford as he “wasn’t the answer” to the family, adding that they were all “better off” without him. He narrowly avoided Cindy, who was desperate to confront him.

After being rejected by Stacey one last time, Max left a voicemail on her phone before fleeing East London once more – but given we know Wood is returning for a full-time stint “later this year”, what will bring him back?