Not sure if intentional, but doesn't seem to make sense unless the sort name field is being dropped because Aliases exist.

"The" examples:
https://musicbrainz.org/report/ArtistsThatMayBeGroups?page=8
https://musicbrainz.org/report/VideosInNonVideoMediums?page=13
https://musicbrainz.org/report/ReleasedTooEarly?page=25
https://musicbrainz.org/report/RecordingsWithVaryingTrackLengths?page=220

That said, I've found it useful to find most Asian artists grouped together at the end because the database sort name field is being ignored.