Rules are for children. This is war, and in war the only crime is to lose.

The line expresses a ruthlessly consequentialist view of conflict: moral “rules” are dismissed as naïve constraints suited to peacetime or childhood, while war is framed as a realm where outcomes erase ethical distinctions. By declaring that “the only crime is to lose,” the speaker implies that victory retroactively legitimizes any means—deception, brutality, betrayal—because the loser alone is judged. In Abercrombie’s grimdark milieu, this sentiment typically functions as a critique rather than an endorsement, spotlighting how power and survival pressures corrode ideals and how wartime rhetoric can be used to excuse atrocities. It also underscores a central Abercrombie theme: the gap between professed principles and what people do when stakes become existential.