If Traveling Merchant is removed from the battlefield in response to its trigger (e.g., bounced to hand with Gust), does the triggered ability still resolve, and can you discard the Merchant from hand to its own effect?

Ruling: Triggers always attempt to resolve even if their source no longer exists. You can discard Traveling Merchant from your hand to its own effect after bouncing it in response to the trigger.

Sequence:

• Move Traveling Merchant to a location (trigger goes on stack)
• Bounce Traveling Merchant to hand in response
• Trigger resolves
• Discard Traveling Merchant from hand to its own effect

Nuances:

• Effects that require information that can't be found outside of the board (like "here") may not resolve normally if the source is removed