Thank you for bringing this topic up. I was hoping that the episodes would be sorted by production order and is great that this discussion finally gets some light!
A while ago, Thomas made a tweet (a while ago and now deleted) about how production order supports the natural flow of ideas that the writers think of implementing whenever they write episodes. (An image of his now-deleted tweet will be labelled below.)
This tweet got me to think about how this tweet manifests in episodes. Obviously, when the writers write a new episode, it's natural and understandable that they will reference any previous episodes they have previously written within the current one they are writing. (Whether the reference is a picture, action, flashback, drawing, mention, actual dialogue, or joke, it still counts as a reference.) What the writers wrote in previous episodes are still fresh in their mind so it makes sense for them to incorporate some references in future episodes, thus supporting the natural flows of ideas they have when writing.
There are some examples that Thomas' tweet supports the fact that some episodes (that reference each other) support Thomas' and his team's natural flow of ideas when writing episodes.
* Example 1: Season 1 - "The Pharaoh, ep 15", and "Timebreaker, ep 16"
- In "The Pharaoh" (S1, ep 15 in production order), the episode introduces Alix's father as well his relationship with his son, Jalil. Whilst Alix does not appear, she is briefly mentioned. We, as an audience now have a better insight into who Alix's family is and the type of father Alim is (strong, firm, assertive, but also caring.)
- In this episode, we also get to see Marinette and Tikki briefly discuss Marinette's competence, skills as Ladybug, and how she can protect Paris and be someone people can trust and "count on." Marinette is also reassured (who is self-doubting her skills) by Tikki that she is amazing, endearing, and a person who learns fast.
- In "Timebreaker" (S1, ep 16 in production order), the writers brought back Mr. Kubdel, and this time, we see his relationship with Alix. We know slightly more about him (he deeply cares and loves Alix, is influential and wants his daughter to have a good birthday and a meaningful present.)
- Similarly, Marinette's being empowered to show her skills is shown once again. She went back to save Cat Noir, and she worked with past!Marinette to defeat Timebreaker. She is also reassured by her father at the end of the episode that she is someone who can be "counted on."
As you can see, whilst the references are subtle, you can see how "Timebreaker" is written after "The Pharaoh." The writers naturally wanted to incorporate some elements of what they wrote in "The Pharaoh, (ep 15) to "Timebreaker", (ep 16.) The references are subtle but still clever of the writers, in my opinion.
- Both episodes briefly focus on Mr. Alim Kubdel and both of his children as well as his relationship with them.
- Both akumatizations are also slightly / majorly time-related. Timebreaker can go past in time whilst Pharaoh's intention is to go back in time. Both also have time-related powers. Timebreaker can freeze people and gain time from them whilst Pharaoh can trap people in "time bubbles."
- Marinette in both episodes learn to overcome her self-doubts and is empowered to demonstrate her skills and abilities as Ladybug and come up with clever ideas to defeat both villains. She is reassured by both her father and Tikki that she is someone who is strong, amazing, and can be counted on!
Example 2: Season 2 - Sapotis, ep 12 / Dark Owl, ep 13
- In Sapotis (S2, ep 12 in production order), we see Marinette wanting to recruit Alya with the Fox Miraculous. Marinette truly believes that Alya is a strong, competent, and conscientious person who has good skills and abilities. Marinette trusts Alya to help her and Cat Noir defeat Sapotis. And Trixx references Alya being a good team member at the end of the episode as well.
- In Dark Owl (S2, ep 13 in production order), Marinette once again trusts Alya to help her and Cat Noir make up a plan to stop Mr. Damocles from getting into trouble. Ladybug asks Alya to dress up as a cardboard villain and pretend she kidnapped them to influence Mr. Damocles to save them, respecting his dream to become a superhero, for at least one day.
As seen in both episodes, Ladybug trusts Alya to help her and Cat Noir, with and without a Miraculous. The writers wrote Dark Owl literally right after Sapotis. Therefore, it shows that they were inspired to make Alya a great contributor to LB and CN's team to help them overcome problems both times.
There are many other examples of written episodes that promote Thomas' tweet. There are many written episodes that subtly or explicitly reference previous ones. References become much more apparent and conspicuous in Season 3 and 4. Major events include the debut of new heroes (Desperada, Startrain, Ikari Gozen, Party Crasher etc), Master Fu's identity being discovered by Hawk Moth which results in him hiding (Feast, Ikari Gozen, Party Crasher, etc), as well as the introduction of the magical charms and Marinette revealing her identity to Alya, and "parallel episodes", as stated by @MiraculousLadyhorse
Because of this, as @TheClydesdalePegasus149 stated, watching and listing the series (especially in Season 3 and 4) in production order is important. Not only does it respect the order of main chronological events, but it also ensures that new users who visit the wiki know what order they are recommended to watch the episodes. It will lessen the potential of them watching the episodes in the wrong order (e.g Party Crasher before Desperada and Startrain, or Ikari Gozen and Party Crasher before Feast, etc.)
And as @LuluGemNZ said, listing the series in production order will hopefully reassure new users that their experience of watching the show won't be spoiled by accidentally watching the show in the wrong order.
Of course, the production order is not 100% perfect. (Looking at you, Evillustrator, Frightningale, and Frozer. :/) As @Bunnybug stated, having 100% chronology in Miraculous is unrealistic and idealistic. The writers and animation studios are bound to slip up every now and then and that's completely fine. But production order shouldn't be treated as perfect either. Its intention is to cause the least amount of errors and that's what it does. I feel that the production order has way more advantages than it does compared to its disadvantages, and that's something I feel we should acknowledge.
And like Lulu mentioned, no one has to watch the series in strict production order if they don't want to, and that's fine. Users are free to watch the series in whatever order they want. The production order is only a guide that is easy and feasible for the Wiki to follow since it supports the order of episodes in which they were written and produced. It also makes the Wiki less US-centric and acknowledges other countries that broadcast the episodes in English or at least in an English audio track (UK & Ireland, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, etc.)
Therefore, I fully support the wiki changing the episode numbering to production order!