“Winter is coming.”

These three words spark excitement within millions of people for one simple reason: “Game of Thrones.”

The famous fantasy HBO series trumps “The Walking Dead” and “Friends” as the most watched television show ever, according to Time magazine, and has been trending on social media ever since its series premiere. However, a poll taken at EHS shows that a meager 16% of students tune in to watch it.

“Most shows that are popular among kids under 18 are slightly comical and witty, and (Game of Thrones) is a lot more serious,” said senior and “Game of Thrones” fan Vincent Verbais. “There is a lot of violence, tension, people die, (it’s) slightly sexual and it’s more of a serious show which might not interest (high schoolers).”

Rated MA for intense violence, profanity and sexual content, many parents simply don’t allow their teenage children to watch it.

“It is pretty graphic,” said EHS Spanish teacher Mrs. Beck, “so I think that maybe they should be a junior or a senior in high school before kids start to watch it.”

Some adults don’t believe any high schoolers should be watching it.

“It would depend on how mature they are,” says 21-year-old SIUE student Haley Andrews. “Fourteen, definitely not. But with 17-year-olds, it’s a way different maturity level. I don’t think they should be watching it… but some teens could watch it, for sure.”

Despite the graphic scenes and concepts in the show, “Game of Thrones” has many more qualities that carried it to the top of the list for most-watched television shows.

Set in a world similar to the medieval-fantasy universe Middle Earth in “Lord of the Rings”—complete with dragons, sword fighting and monsters—two powerful families compete over the Iron Throne for the control over the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. With $10 million spent to make a single episode, HBO has the production value, directors and actors that send you to a completely different world with dozens of unique characters.

“No matter how old you are, you’re going to find something in the show that you know,” said Verbais. “It caters to all audiences in the way that it’s amazingly written, detailed, and it has characters that many people can relate to.”