I think the green vortex is Oz. I have a feeling Baelfire falls into Oz and the people deem him the new Wizard of Oz because he has the powerful dagger. Hopefully, this will be August’s genisis story. Maybe that’s why August wants to kill Mr. Gold. The Wizard’s greatest plight was that he wasn’t a real wizard. Maybe August wants to kill Rumpel so that he can go back to his people and finally tell them that he is in fact a wizard. This could also explain his “I’m not a liar” line to Emma. Everyone seemed to think it was about Pinocchio, but it could be in reference to Oz.
Speaking of the dagger, I’ll bet every sent to my name that the dagger is from Oz. There’s something about the name “Zoso” that reminds me of the name “Oz.”