I still find it kind of funny that Zartan seems to be despised by everyone, but he's kept around because Cobra Commander just seems to have a weird fondness for him. Destro clearly and repeatedly calls him out as a loose canon. Tomax and Xamot also don't seem to like him. But Cobra Commander keeps overlooking all his betrayals and opportunistic tendencies. Considering Cobra Commander is basically later couped by the rest of Cobra High Command to make way for Serpentor, maybe he sees something of himself in Zartan. Neither one is exactly well trusted by their peers, clearly.
Actually...maybe Cobra Commander really does see something of himself in Zartan. Cobra Commander isn't a traditional human, considering he was one of the Cobra-La denizens way back in the day. I don't remember if Cobra-La is made up of aliens, mutants distantly related to humans or something else entirely. But he's certainly not pure human. And Zartan is clearly a reject from an 80s X-Men comic. He's randomly able to change his skin colour, so I just have to assume he's a mutant. He's apparently also a schizophrenic (according to one of the cards they released with the toys which I found online), so perhaps all of his disorders made him seem almost equally lost amongst traditional humanity.
The 80s show never confirms any of this, because I doubt they thought of any of this in advance. But I think it's a good retroactive headcanon, because it adds humanizing touches to the characters while also explaining previously unexplained character motivations. I think Zartan and Cobra Commander being similar to each other and thereby vaguely fond of each other would explain some things. It also provides an ability for me to have Zartan be one of the only people still working for Cobra Commander in the idea I pitched where Destro, Tomax and Xamot all break away from Cobra Commander. Even at his weakest, Cobra Commander has Zartan and his Dreadnoks.
I think the weird way everyone in Cobra's higher ranks seems to privately kind of dislike each other is kind of funny, too. There's less Cobra characters on the whole as compared to the GI Joes, I think. So that means each villain gets lots of screen time, and I really like each of the show's villians. Especially in season 1, which is where most of the episodes I've seen have come from.