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How would this interaction work?

I've got a Thrashing Brontodon out, which has the ability

{1}, Sacrifice Thrashing Brontodon: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.

I enchant it with Journey to Eternity:

When enchanted creature dies, return it to the battlefield under your control, then return Journey to Eternity to the battlefield transformed under your control.

Is it legal to use Trashing Brontodon's ability targeting the Journey to Eternity attached to itself? If so, what happens?

I'm assuming that it is legal and that the Journey to Eternity would return transformed but would love some clarity on this.

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Yes, the Journey to Eternity will return to the battlefield transformed and the Thrashing Brontodon will also return to the battlefield.

The exact sequence of events is as follows:

  1. You activate Thrashing Brontodon's ability targeting Journey to Eternity. While paying the cost, you sacrifice Thrashing Brontodon, which triggers Journey to Eternity's ability.

  2. Journey to Eternity is no longer attached to a creature, so it is put into your graveyard as a state-based action [CR 704.5m]

  3. Journey to Eternity's triggered ability goes on the stack on top of Thrashing Brontodon's ability.

  4. Journey to Eternity's ability resolves, returning Thrashing Brontodon to the battlefield and returning Journey to Eternity to the battlefield transformed.

  5. Thrashing Brontodon's ability starts to resolve, but it no longer has a legal target because the Journey to Eternity left the battlefield, so it fails to resolve [CR 608.2b]

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  • I think it would be clearer separating out paying the cost as coming before putting Brontodon's ability on the stack, and if you explain why JtE's ability is able to find JtE after it's not on the battlefield anymore.
    – Acccumulation
    Aug 23, 2022 at 4:14
  • Paying the cost comes after putting the ability on the stack, and I'm not sure why that would make a difference here. Also, Journey to Eternity's ability can always find it in the graveyard, that's fundamental to how the ability always works, so I don't know why explaining that would help address this particular interaction.
    – murgatroid99 ♦
    Aug 23, 2022 at 4:19
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Journey to Eternity will return the brontodon to the battlefield and then itself. The destruction of the Thrashing Brontodon will cause Journey to Eternity to leave the battlefield as a state based action, making Thrashing Brontodon's ability to destroy it fizzle. Journey to Eternity will resolve the effects of it's enchanted creature dying as normal.

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