In the first episode of ‘Serial,’ Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl said he was like Jason Bourne.

In the second episode, he was likened to the Taliban’s “golden chicken.” So much for action hero-inspired delusions of grandeur.

‘Serial’ host Sara Koenig spoke with a Taliban fighter who helped detain and torture Bergdahl during his period of captivity. The militant, who was referred to by the pseudonym Mujahid Rahman, was blunt when he described Bergdahl’s value to the terrorist group.

“A dead soldier is worth nothing, but he was captured alive, and he was like a golden chicken,” Rahman said. When Koenig asked Rahman about the insurgents who died to prevent the Americans from recapturing Bergdahl, he said, “Some people are worth more than a 1,000 men … he was worth more than 5,000 individuals.”

The moment Bergdahl was captured, he became a bargaining chip for the Taliban. In fact, the frantic search for the missing soldier and repeated attempts to free him convinced the Taliban that he was immensely valuable. Their suspicions were eventually proven correct when Bergdahl’s life was traded for five Taliban prisoners.

While Bergdahl realized he was in over his head shortly after his capture, he underestimated how his life would be leveraged against the U.S. military. In the very same episode that he was called a golden chicken by his former captor, Bergdahl said they would have killed him at any moment.

“It doesn’t matter how many kung-fu movies you watch. It doesn’t matter how long you are a martial-arts fighter, or whatever,” Bergdahl said. “You have to be realistic when you’re facing those type of people, you know? You know, these people, they have no hesitation, they have no problem, killing you. They will kill you just for the amusement for being able to shoot you.”