Serpentor and the Coil never interested me. They create something that is superior to any Cobra in any way. He doesn't exist to subvert Cobra Commander, he exists to replace him outright. I also find it ludicrous that he would have followed Golobulus for any extended period of time. My own fanwank is he was biding his time, seeing that he had no tactical advantage to move against Golobulous in the Cobra La Ice Dome.

It all played out like the toon, got his cape stuck in his chariot and was injured, gone forever? Cobra is left shattered, Twins turn to crime, Destro is off doing his thing, much like the Decepticons in Transformers, lowest of lows the post-movie season. Cobra Commander returns from his snake form, battle armor is actually a mutation stablizing device, and rebuilds Cobra and plans his revenge on Golobulous, assuming he ever can find him. Golobulous is like Unicron, always a danger lurking in the shadows, but not amounting to anything after the movie, but still a big symbol of evil, as he is responsible for unleshing both Cobra Commander and Serpentor upon the world.

Eventually Serpentor would reemerge with the help of Pythona (who's loyalities are to him, not Golobulous), only both he and Cobra Commander would be summoned before Golobulous for some purpose to conquer the world. He'd expect them to fall back in line as his lieutenants. At that point, the two rivals would form a shaky alliance to finally bring down Golobulous once and for all, only to backstab one another afterwards. These are just story concepts I played out as a kid.

Serpentor and Cobra Commander remind me of Hordack and Skeletor, or Megatron and Starscream. A pairing that could actually conquer the world if they actually worked together, but the desire to rule alone make it impossible.

Who has the advantage? Depends on the day of the week, the mood I am in. I'm not pleased with the 25th Serpentor, so Battle Armor CC is running the show right now and Serpy is stuck in the Cobra Arena of Sport.

If one is in charge, the other is disposed of. Cobra Commander is too arrogant to kill Serpentor, when he has the advantage, Serpentor is put in the Cobra Arena of Sport as CC's amusement, forced to fight captured Joes and such. Serpentor, of course, is too good to lose any fight, and sure enough, eventually escapes, sometimes with the help of his opponents in the Arena, and re-takes over Cobra. CC has to go into hiding because Serpentor would kill him given the chance. Eventually Cobra Commander makes a play to take back over Cobra, the cycle repeats itself. The cycle is only broken when Golobulous shows his face, then and only then will they work together.